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BV  42  11  .  S74  KS5  5 
Stevens,  Abel,  1815-1897 
Essays  on  the  preaching 
required  by  the  times 


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ESSAYS    ■ 

V,  ,_  ^  ^ 

ON   THE 

PREACHING  REQUIRED  BY  THE  TIMES, 

AND   THE 

BEST  METHODS  OF  OBTAINING  IT- 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS   OF 
METHODIST   PREACHING. 

INCLUDIKO 

gwks  tax  (£%hmpxi\\UG\x^  l)tm\)in^, 


CHARACTERISTIC  SKETCHES  OF  OLIN,  EISK,  BASCOJI   COOKMAN 
SUIIMERFIELD,  AND  OTHER  NOTED  EXTEMPORANEOUS        ' 
PRMCHERS. 


By  ABEL  STEVENS. 


PUBLISHED   BY    CARLTON   &   PHILLIPS, 

200    MULBERRY-STUEET. 

1855. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855, 

BY  CARLTON  &  PHILLirS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 

of  New-York. 


^(U**^i*A*^A*3^ 


The  first  five  chapters  of  this  volume  appeared  as  part 
of  a  series  of  articles,  entitled  "  The  Christianity  required 
by  the  Times,"  in  the  National  Magazine  for  1854.  The 
remaining  chapters  formed  a  series  of  articles  on  "Meth- 
odist Preaching "  in  the  Methodist  Quarterly  Eeview,  for 
1852.  The  readers  of  the  original  articles  will  observe 
that  they  have  been  thoroughly  revised,  enlarged,  and 
otherwise  modified.  The  author  has  not,  however, 
deemed  it  necessary  to  di'op  the  peculiarities  •  of  their 
style,  as  periodical  articles,  for  the  graver  dignity  usual 
to  books  on  religious  subjects.  He  hopes  also  that  any 
apparent  want  of  unity,  in  some  parts  of  the  work,  arising 
from  the  same  cause,  will  not  amount  to  a  serious 
fault. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  writer  has  not  attempted  any- 
thing like  a  thorough  treatise  on  Homiletics ;  he  confines 
himself  to  special  questions  respecting  the  methods,  the 
responsibilities,  and,  particularly,  the  defects  of  the  mod- 
ern pulpit,  the  reasons  of  its  comparatively  inefifective  and 
(as  some  allege)  declining  power.  On  the  subject  of 
extemporaneous  preaching  he  has,  however,  attempted'  to 
be  morQ  comprehensive  and  practical.  The  moral  quali- 
fications for  the  sacred  office,  which  in  a  more  general 


4  PKEFACE. 

•I'        -, 
work  should  have  been  more  fully  treated,  are,  he  hopes, 

imijlied     with     sufficient     distinctness     throughout    the 

volume. 

While  the  first  part  of  the  Avork  treats  of  the  subject 
in  general,  and  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  acceptable  to  clerical 
readers  generally,  its  latter  part  relates  mostly  to  Meth- 
odist preaching.  The  imequaled  success  of  the  ministe- 
rial methods  of  Methodism  can  hardly  fail  to  interest 
readers  of  other  denominations,  and  to  give  importance 
to  this  part  of  the  volume;  but  should  the  writer's 
ministerial  brethren  in  other  Churches  demand  of  him 
an  apology  for  this  sectarian  aspect  of  a  production 
whicli,  in  other  respects,  may  be  considered  liablu  to  the 
charge  of  too  much  liberalism,  he  hopes  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  remind  them,  that  this  part  of  tlic  volume  was 
originally  written  for  a  denominational  periodical  and  a 
denominational  purpose;  that  in  the  i)ublic  calls  for  tlie 
present  publication,  these  articles  have  been  particularly 
demanded,  and  that  their  character  is  fairly  indicated  in 
the  title-page  of  the  volume. 

Notwithstanding  repeated  calls  for  these  articles  from 
the  public  papers  and  from  personal  sources,  the  autlior 
could  not  have  the  presumption  to  commit  them  to  the 
press  in  this  form,  were  it  not  that  they  have  been 
demanded  by  the  "unanimous  vote"  of  an  ecclesiastical 
body — the  Providence  Conference — comprising  more  than 
a  hundred  and  fifty  clerg}'men  with  whom  he  has  held 
fraternal  relations  for  many  yeare,  and  Avhose  commands 
are  always  laws  with  him. 


CONTENTS. 


ESSAY    I. 

DEFECTS  OF  MODERN  PREACHING  AND  THEIR   REMEDIES. 

Homiletics  —  Meaning  of  the'Word  —  Its  modern  Abuse — Actual 
Character  of  our  Preachin;^  —  History  of  Preaching  —  The  Prim- 
itive Sermon  —  Origen  —  Preaching  among  the  Puritans  —  Mod- 
ern "Manuals  "  on  Preaching  —  A  Criticism  on  Sturtevant  — An 
Example  of  "  Skeletonizing"  —  Objections  to  Skeletons  —  "  Great 
Preachers"  —  Clerical  Estimates  of  Preaching Page  17 


ESSAY    II. 

DEFECTS  OF  MODERN  PREACHING,  AND  THEIR  REMEDIES- 
CONTINUED. 

The  Literary  Eank  of  the  Sermon  —  Its  lack  of  Popular  Interest  — 
Reason  of  it  —  Lack  of  Moral  Power — What  should  be  the  Power 
of  the  Pulpit? 40 


ESSAY     III. 

INEFFICIENCY  OF  THE  PULPIT  —  FURTHER  CAUSES  OF   IT 
AND  THEIR  REMEDIES. 

The  Pulpit  too  limited  in  the  Application  of  its  Habitual  Themes 
—  The  "Evangelistic"  Pulpit,  its  Defects  — The  "Rationalistic" 
Pulpit,  its  Lack  of  Moral  Power  — The  "Preaching  of  Christ"— 
The  Freedom  of  the  Pulpit— How  can  it  be  regained ?  — Chal- 
lenged by  the  Infidelity  of  the  Day 54 


b  CONTENTS. 

ESSAY     I  V. 

INEFFICIENCi   OF  THE  PULPIT  — A  PLEA  FOR  EXTEMPORA- 
NEOUS PREACHING. 

Reading  not  Preacliing  —  Opinions  in  Favor  of  Extcmporaneuu.s 
Preaching  —  Its  Compatibility  with  a  flood  Style  and  Close 
Thinking  —  Chalmers — European  E.xample  —  The  Classic  Ora- 
tors "  Extemporizers" — The  .\nglo-Saxon  Pulpit  alone  substitutes 
Reading  for  Preaching — Reading  not  tolerated  in  Senatorial  or 
Forensic  Oratory  —  Webster  —  Dis.id vantages  of  Sermon  Writing 
to  Clergymen  —  Defects  of  our  Ministerial  Training — The  .\i>- 
propriate  Studies  of  an  Orator  —  Cicero  —  Romilly — Thomas 
Scott  —  Dr.  Arnold  —  A  better  Selection  of  Ministerial  Candi- 
dates necessary Page  70 


ESSAY    V. 

FURTHEE  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  EXTEMPORANEOUS 
PREACHING— RULES  FOR  IT. 

Examples  of  Extemporaneous  Eloquence  —  Definition  of  Eloquence 
—  Design  of  "Notes"  —  Design  of  Preaching  —  Diffidence  —  Its 
Advantages  —  Briefs  in  the  Pulpit  —  Preventives  of  Embarra.«s- 
aient — Preaching  memoriter  —  Selection  and  Arrangement  of 
Subjects  —  Their  Elaboration  —  Four  Rules  for  Extemporiz- 
ing      90 


ESSAY      VI. 

METHODIST  PREACHING— ITS  PRIMITIVE  CHARACTERISTICS. 

It«  Success  —  Its  Original  Characteristics  —  It  was  peculiar  in  its 
Themes — \S'liat  were  they?  —  Its  Evangelical  Liberalism  —  It 
was  peculiar  in  its  Style  —  Its  Verbal  Style  — Its  Oratorical 
Style  —  Its  Aim  at  Direct  Results  —  Its  Extemporaneous  De- 
livery   114 

ESSAY     VII. 

METHODIST  PREACHING  — HOW  FAR  ARE  ITS  PRI.MITIVK 
CHARACTERISTICS  AND  METHODS  SUITED  TO  OUR  TIMES? 

Heroic  Character  of  the  Early  Mefhodist  Ministry  —  Asbury  and 
his  Associates  —  The  "Old  Wcsti-rn  Conference  "  —  The  .applica- 
bility of  the  original  Ministerial  Methods  and  Stvie  of  Methodism 


CONTENTS.  7 

to  our  large  Communities  —  The  "  City  Missionary"  and  the  old 
Cify  Itinerancy  —  Importance  of  the  old  Methods  to  the  Atlantic 
Communities  —  To  the  Interior  States  —  To  the  Western  Territo- 
ries—  The  Prospective  Population  of  the  Counti-y — Startling 
Statistics Page  li2 

ESSAY    VIII. 

METHODIST  PEEACHING-WHAT  MODIFICATIONS  OF  IT  AEE 
REQUIRED  BY  THE  TIMES? 

A  larger  Eange  of  Practical  Instruction  needed  —  Reasons  for  it  — 
More  Doctrinal  Instruction  required  —  The  Philanthropic  Enter- 
prises of  the  Church  not  sufficiently  represented  in  the  Pulpit  — 
Special  Addresses  —  Public  Questions  —  Such  Improvements  of 
our  Preaching  requires  the  Improvement  of  our  Preachers  —  Means 
for  the  latter  —  Better  Choice  of  Candidates  —  Our  Supply  — 
Enormous  Sacrifice  of  Young  Men  — A  Reserve  List  needed — ■ 
Preparatory  "  Course  of  Study  "  —  An  "  Educational  Society  "  — 
Theological  Schools 168 

ESSAY    IX. 

METHODIST  PEE  ACHING  —  DISTINGUISHED  EXAMPLES. 

Peculiar  Advantages  of  Methodism  for  Men  of  Talent  —  Charac- 
teristics of  Summerfield  —  His  History — -Peculiarities  of  his 
Eloquence  —  Habits  as  an  Extemporizer  —  Personal  Traits  — 
Death  —  Cookman  —  Biographical  Facts  —  Style  of  his  •  Elo- 
quence—  His  Appearance  —  His  Martial  Spirit  —  Baseom  —  His 
Personal  Advantages  —  Style — Defects  and  Excellences  of  his 
Genius  —  Fisk  —  His  Appearance  —  Vocal  Advantage  —  Manner 
in  the  Pulpit  —  Polemical  Propensity  —  Christian  Perfection  — 
Estimate  of  his  Talents — Olin  —  His  Religious  Character  — 
Social  Character  —  Scholarship  —  Eloquence  —  Anecdote  —  Style 
—  Opinions  —  Comparative  Remarks  —  Conclusion 204 


INTRODUCTION. 


"We  hail  the  following  effort  to  explain,  and  enforce  the 
true  design,  and  the  most  efficient  manner  of  preaching 
the  Gospel,  as  a  very  timely,  and  a  very  ahle  exposition 
of  the  subject.  The  reader  will  find  it  a  compendium 
of  what  Scripture  teaches  and  experience  has  illustrated 
in  the  premises ;  and  it  is  time  that  Dr.  Johnson's  adage 
had  come  into  the  currency  of  a  proverb — "Experience, 
which  is  always  contradicting  theory,  is  the  only  test  of 
truth."  But  both  Scripture  and  experience  teach  that 
God  alone  can  select,  and  call,  and  qualify  ministers  of 
his  word — preachers  of  the  Gospel — to  promulgate  with 
effect  the  divine  message  of  mercy  and  salvation  to  the 
world.  "He  that  entereth  not  through  this  door,  but 
climbeth  up  some  other  way,  the  same  is  a  thief  and  a 
robber."  No  matter  how  brilliant  his  parts,  how  exten- 
sive his  learning,  how  great  his  acquirements  m  meta- 
physical and  physical  science  and  literature,  or  how 
eloquent  he  may  be,  without  this  calling  of  God,  he  is 
an  intruder  into  the  sacred  office,  and  will  hinder,  rather 
than  promote  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  and  Scriptural 
holiness  in  the  earth.     Our  blessed  Lord  chose  his  instru- 


10  INTKODUCTION. 

ments  for  the  propagation  of  tlio  Gospel — his  apostles — 
from  tlie  humblest  ranks  and  callings  of  society;  men, 
AvhoUy  unaocjuainted  even  ■with  the  learning  of  the 
Jews,  as  ■well  as  with  that  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
They  were  sent  to  teach  that  which  he  taught  them, — 
the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the  Gospel  as  the  only  wa}' 
of  salvation  from  sin  in  this  world,  and  from  its  coase- 
qnences  in  the  world  to  come;  and  these  became  the  able 
and  successful  ministers  of  the  new  covenant,  turning 
thousands  "from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God,"  without  the  aid  of  lunnan  learning  or 
philoso])hy. 

In  answer  to  this  it  is  allcdged  that  the  apostles  were 
miraculously  endowed;  that  the  gifts  of  healing  and  of 
tongues  were  imparted  to  them  to  qualify  them  for  the 
work  to  wliich  they  were  called,  but  as  these  miraculous 
giftii  are  not  now  imparted  to  the  ministers  of  the  Gos|K'1, 
they  must  apply  themselves  to  the  acquiring  of  literature 
and  philosophy  as  qualifications  for  their  calling.  Yet,  in 
the  various  gifts  bestowed  upon  the  first  i)reachers  of  the 
Gosifcl,  wc  do  not  find  there  were  included,  either  the 
knowledge  of  Rabbinical  or  Grecian  learning  or  literature. 
Now  surely  our  Lord  knew  what  was  necessary  to  them 
as  messengers  of  tiiat  great  salvation  ho  sent  them  to 
proclaim;  and  that  ho  could  liavo  a.s  ea*iily  imparted  to 
them  all  the  treasures  of  Rabbinical  and  Grecian  lore,  as 
the  gift  of  tongues — the  knowledge  of  all  languages.  If 
ho  did  not  do  so,  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that  the  meta- 
])hysical  systems  of  ])hilosophy,  whether  Jewish  or  Pagan, 
were  not  necessary  lo  them  even  a.s  auxiliary  aids,  nmch 
less  as  an  essential  qnaliticnfion  for  ttieir  work. 


INTKODUCTION.  11 

But  it  must  be  admitted  that  some  twenty  years  after 
our  Lord's  ascension  he  called  another  apostle,  a  man  "vvell 
versed  in  human  learning  and  the  various  systems  of 
philosophy  of  his-  time.  Taken  from  the  feet  of  Gamaliel, 
a  Jewish  LL.  D.,  and  though  lineally  an  Israelite,  yet  a 
Greek  by  birth  he  came  to  the  apostleship  Avith  all  the 
treasures  of  scholastic  qualifications  which  the  most  fas- 
tidious hearers  could  require.  Yet  what  does  he  himself 
teU  us  of  the  availability  of  these  qualifications  in  tlie 
great  work  in  which  he  was  engaged.  In  his  first  letter 
to  the  Church  at  Corinth,  which  he  himself  had  planted, 
he  assures  them  that  they  Avere  not  indebted  in  the 
smallest  degree  to  the  wisdom  of  the  world  for  the  reli- 
gion they  enjoyed,  or  the  great  benefits  they  had  derived 
from  the  Gospel:  "for  after-  that  in  the  wisdom  of  God, 
the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by 
the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe." 
By  the  wisdom  of  God  the  apostle  did  not  mean  the 
wisdom  of  Avhich  God  was  the  author,  but  that  of  which 
he  Avas  the  object,  answering  precisely  to  our  term  the- 
ology ;  and  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching,  that  which 
the  wise  and  the  learned  of  this  Avorld  called  foolishness — 
the  preaching  of  Christ  crucified, — to  the  believer  "  tlie 
Avisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God."  The  sum  of  tlie 
apostles'  teaching  is  that  the  study  of  natural  theology — 
the  Avisdom  of  which  God  is  the  object,  or  metaphysical 
philosophy  applied  to  the  study  of  theology,  had  failed  to 
find  out  the  nature  and  attributes  of  the  true  God,  or  the 
way  to  Avorship  and  serve  him  so  as  to  secure  his  favor, 
and  to  obtain  eternal  fife  at  his  hand.  All  tliis  is  learned 
from  the  revelation  Avhich  God  has  been  pleased  to  make 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

of  himself,  and  is  taught  only  by  the  Gospel  whicli  he  had 
sent  his  apostles  to  preach.  Our  faith,  therefore,  tlie  faith 
which  brings  salvation,  must  stand  not  in  the  "wisdom,  or 
])hilosophy  of  men,  but  in  Christ  crucified,  who  is  "the 
wisdom  of  God,  and  the  power  of  God." 

To  publish  this  Gospel — this  perfect  scheme  of  mercy 
and  salvation — to  the  children  of  men,  the  same  ai)0stle 
teUs  us  that  "God  in  tlie  beginning  gave  some  apostles, 
some  prophets,  some  evangelists,  some  pastors  and  teach- 
ers, for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  the  edification  of 
the  body  of  Christ" — the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the 
"building  up  believers  in  their  most  holy  faith."  This 
was  the  divine  plan  at  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  dis- 
pensation, and  we  have  no  ground  for  believing  that 
divine  wisdom  has  made  any  subsequent  change  in  his 
economy  in  this  respect.  God  still  calls  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  men  of  various  tjilents  and  endowments, 
suited  to  the  various  conditions  of  men  and  Churclies; 
and  urges  upon  those  whom  he  calls  tlie  duty  of  liasten- 
ing  to  enter  upon  their  Avork.  And  this  roijuirement  is 
impreased  upon  the  consciousness  of  tlie  persons  called, 
whether  from  the  ordinary  avocations  of  life,  or  from  tlie 
feet  of  Gamaliel — the  colleges  of  learning.  They  are 
to  lay  their  impressions  before  th(5ir  brethren,  and  the 
Church  is  to  decide  wliether  the  call  be  divine,  or  other- 
wise, and  the  judgment  is  to  be  formed  on  the  rule  laid 
down  by  oiu*  Lord  himself,  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  Have  they  grace  or  piety,  have  they  a  clear 
apprehension  of  the  way  of  salvation  according  to  Scrip- 
ture, and  from  personal  experience ;  have  they  in  some 
good  degre6  a  ready  utterance,  so  as  to  be  able  to  com- 


INTKODUCTIOK.  13 

mimicate  what  they  know  to  others,  and,  above  all,  have 
they  fruit?  Has  God  owned  their  labours  in  exercising 
their  gifts  of  exhortation?  If  all  these  signs  combine  in 
any  one  Ave  judge  he  is  called  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
though  he  may  have  little  human  learning.  This  has 
been  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  Metliodism.  Allien 
we  change  our  doctrine  and  practice  in  this  respect,  as 
the  Israelites  changed  their  theocracy  for  monarchy,  to 
be  like  the  nations  around  them,  Ave  may,  like  them, 
obtain  our  desire;  may  attain  a  high  standing  in  the 
literary  and  scientific  Avoi'ld,  but  we  may,  like  them,  loose 
the  Urimaml  T/mm?nim — that  blessed  presence  andpoAver 
of  God  Avhich  has,  heretofore,  accompanied  our  ministry, 
and  given  it  a  success  Avhich  is  known  and  acknoAvledged 
of  all  men.  The  Jcavs  may  have  gained  the  Avordly  eleva- 
tion they  sought  by  the  election  of  Saul  as  their  king ;  but 
the  holy  of  holies,  in  tlieir  tabernacle,  lost  that  •  Avhich 
Avas  the  chief  distinction,  and  most  A^aluable  of  all  its 
endowments.  The  high  priest  annually,  on  tlie  great  day 
of  atonement,  lifted  the  vail,  in  due  form,  and  entered  the 
holy  of  holies,  sprinkling  the  mercy  seat  Avith  tlie  blood  of 
the  victim;  but -the  Urim  and  Thumniim,  God  avIio  dAvelt 
betAveen  the  cherubim,  Avhich  covered  the  ark  Avith  their 
wings,  Avas  no  longer  there ! !  What  a  poor  compensation 
was  the  Avordly  honor  their  nation  had  acquired  for  the 
loss  of  the  divine  presence  they  suffered  by  departing 
from  the  institution  of  Jehovah ! 

In  the  foUoAving  pages  we  find  clearly  exhibited  the 
design  of  preaching,  as  we  learn  It  from  the  Scriptures  of  • 
truth,  and  from  tliis  original  design  itself  is  inferred  Avhat  a 
preacher  ought  to  be,  and  the  manner  in  Avhich  he  should 


14  INTKODUCTION, 

deliver  his  messape.  He  should  be  clear  in  his  con\'ictions 
of  the  truth  of  his  message,  and  the  condition  of  those  to 
whom  he  is  called  to  deliver  it.  He  is  required  to  follow 
the  example  of  his  Lord — sent  to  "seek  and  to  save  theni 
who  are  lost,"  and  to  declare  to  them  the  only  conditions 
on  which  they  can  be  saved.  His  hearers,  though  of  every 
variety  and  description  of  character  which  humanity  i)re- 
Bentsare  all  alike  in  one  respect.  They  are  moral  free  agents, 
placed  in  this  world  to  undergo  a  state  of  probation,  trial, 
or  discijdino,  under  the  divine  appointment,  in  reference 
to  an  ulterit)r  purjjose  of  God,  to  be  developed  in  a  future 
state  of  being;  and  their  condition  in  the  world  to  come 
is  to  depend  upon  the  imi)rovemcnt  they  make  of  the 
blessings,  the  advantages,  and  ojjport  unities  atforded  them 
in  the  providence  of  God  in  their  state  of  probation  in 
this  life.  Here  only  can  they  acquire  the  holiness  which 
will  fit  them  for  the  enjoyments  of  heaven.  Yet  lie  finds 
them,  for  the  most  part,  living  without  reference  to  their 
eternal  interest**,  without  God,  and  without  hope  in  the 
world.  Ha.'itening  to  death  and  Judgment,  they  are 
ab.sorbed  by  sensual  and  earthly  delights,  giving  them- 
selves up  to  the  "lusts  of  the  llcsh  and  the  pride  of  life." 
God  has  sent  him  to  alarm  them  by  presenting  their 
danger,  by  setting  before  them  the  retributions  of  eternity, 
and  when  he  has  awakened  in  them  the  earnest  desire  to 
flee  the  wrath  to  come,  to  annmmce  to  them  the  Gospel 
salvation;  to  i)enetrate  their  souls  with  the  Joyous  declar- 
ation of  the  Saviour,  that  "(iod  so  loved  the  world"' — a 
world  (lead  in  tresj)aK.ses  and  sins — a  province  of  his  em- 
pire in  open  rebellion — that  "he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son 
that  wiiosoever  believcth  in  him  should  not  perbh,  but 


INTliODUOTION.  15 

have  everlasting  life."  Now  surely  the  preacher  will  be 
in  earnest — will  sliow,  in  Lis  manner  and  address,  his  own 
deep  conviction  of  the  truths  he  utters,  and  of  his  deep 
feeling  for  the  awful  danger  to  which  his  hearers  are 
exposed  at  every  step  of  life.  Hence  earnestness  and  zeal 
are  indispensable  qualifications  in  the  messenger  of  God — 
the  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 

But  is  such  earnestness  and  zeal  compatible  with  the 
cold  discussions  and  formal  arrangements  of  scholastic 
divinity?  In  the  following  work  the  dialectics  of  the 
theological  schools  are  fairly  exhibited,  and  we  are  free  to 
say  that  the  trammels,  imposed  upon  the  pulpit  by  theo- 
logians, has  done  more  to  prevent  its  success  than  all  the 
writings  of  the  deists  and  atheists  of  ancient  or  modern 
times.  We  heartily  thank  brother  Stevens  for  the  scathing 
criticism  he  has  given  of  tlie  manuals  which — save  the  mark 
— are  furnished  to  young  preachers  as  models  upon  which 
to  construct  their  sermons,  and  Avhich  would,  if  adopted, 
crystalize  the  earnestness  of  preaching  into  an  iceberg. 

But  *we  would  call  especial  attention  to  the  reinarks  on 
extemporaneous  preaching  in  the  following  work.  It  is  to 
the  reading  of  sermons  our  preachers  will  be  most 
tempted ;  and  the  evil  of  yielding  to  the  temptation  is 
made  very  aj^parent.  And  we  think,  no  one  who  reads 
what  is  said  on  the  subject  in  this  little  volume  can  be- 
•lieve  the  reading  of  sermons  compatible  with  the  zeal  and 
earnestness  which  should  characterize  the  preacher  of  the 
Gospel,  impressed  as  he  should  be  with  the  deep  anxiety 
for  the  present  immediate  effects  of  his  efforts  to  pluck  the 
souls  of  his  hearers  out  of  the  fire — as  brands  from  the 
burning. 


16  IMTKODUCilON. 

The  article  on  Methodist  preaching  is  just,  bold,  and 
fearless.  At  the  risk  of  what  is  most  painful  to  a  man  of 
delicacy  and  good  taste,  the  being  called  a  sectarian  bigot, 
the  writer  claims  for  our  fathers  to  have  furnished  the 
beat  models  of  true  evangelical  preachers,  and  tiie  most 
successful  in  accomplishing  the  great  end  and  ultimate 
design  of  jireaching  the  Gospel.  But  his  facts  bear  hira 
out;  and  he  may  set  all  cavil  and  criticism  at  defiance. 
Theirs  was  the  preaching  for  their  times :  and  we  doubt 
whether  any  other  kind  of  preaching  is  required  by  the 
present  times,  or  will  be  hereafter,  while  the  Avorld 
remains  "dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,"  in  despite  of  the 
more  general  diffusion  of  learning  and  j»hilosop]iy. 

TuoMAs  E.  Bond,  Sen. 


ESSAYS 

OK  THE 

PREACHING  REaUIRED  BY  THE  TIMES. 


ESSAY   I. 

DEFECTS   OF  MODERN   PREACHING  AND  THEIR   REMEDIES. 

Homiletics  —  Meaning  of  the  Word  —  Its  modern  Abuse — Actual 
Character  of  our  Preaching  —  History  of  Preaching —  The  Prim- 
itive Sermon  —  Origen  —  Preaching  among  the  Puritans  —  Mod- 
ern "Manuals  "  on  Preaching  —  A  Criticism  on  Sturtevant  — An 
Example  of  '  Skeletonizing"  — Objections  to  Skeletons  — ^"  Great 
Preachers  "  —  Clerical  Estimates  of  Preaching. 

The  pulpit  is  one  of  the  permanent  institutions 
of  Christianity.  It  is  founded  in  the  permanent 
necessities  of  the  Church,  and  was  ordained  as 
expressly  as  the  "  Sacraments," — to  continue 
"  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Claiming  a 
divine  authorization,  charged  with  the  promul- 
gation of  the  divine  will,  appealing  to  the  deep- 
est sensibilities  of  human  nature,  and  at  the 
same  time  capable  of  consecrating  to  its  pur- 
poses, most,  if  not  all  the  aids  of  learning  and 
genius,  and  nearly  every  subject  of  public  in- 
terest, it  ought  certainly  to  stand  unrivaled  on 
2    • 

y 


18  ESSAYS     ON    THE     PREACHING 

the  earth  in  its  moral  power, — tlie  supreme 
source  of  influence  over  the  mind  of  the  world. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  here  question 
w^hether  such  is  its  sway  or  not.  Whatever  we 
may  claim  to  be  its  actual  power,  unquestion- 
ably it  does  not  approach  the  effectiveness  which 
its  peculiar  advantages  ought  to  aftbrd.  K  its 
influence  is  not  decMning  throughout  Christen- 
dom, as  is  sometimes  alleged,  undeniably  it  falls 
far  short  of  what  our  own  times  require.  We 
propose  to  discuss  some  of  the  causes  and  reme- 
dies of  this  deficiency. 

We  must  further  premise  that  while  we  can- 
not, of  couree,  pretend  to  anything  very  original 
on  the  subject,  we  should  not  deem  it  proper  to 
waste  our  pages  with  its  conceded  common- 
places; we  expect  to  say  many  things  that  will 
not  be  conceded,  and  to  say  them  outrightly. 
We  bespeak,  therefore,  the  indulgence  of  our 
readers,  especially  of  our  clerical  readers,  who, 
we  trust,  would  rather  read  our  honest  dissent 
from  the  current  views  of  the  subject,  than  the 
hackneyed  arguments  for  them. 

Wliat  is  the  character  of  our  actual  preach- 
ing f  Why  is  it  such  ?  And  wluit  should  it 
he  ?  AUoAV  us  to  answer  these  (juestions  as 
frankly  as  we  can;  tlic  firet  two  ut  least,  as  the 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  19 

answer  of  these  will  imply  tlieir  converse — the 
answer  of  the  third. 

And  let  not  the  reader  suppose,  from  this 
methodical  "  division  of  the  subject,"  that  we 
are  about  to  inflict  on  him  a  homily  on  "Homi- 
letics."  Far  from  it.  We  shall  say  some  very 
hard  things  against  that  sham-art,  as  we  deem 
it ;  one  that  might  properly  be  defined  the  art 
of  making  preaching  artificial.  Preaching  an 
art !  We  might  almost  as  well  have  an  art  of 
rejoicing  with  those  who  rejoice,  and  of  weep- 
ing with  those  who  weep — of  exercising  the 
holiest  charities — of  communing  with  God  him- 
self. Even  prayer  has  been  defined  into  an  art 
by  "  Homiletics."  There  are  many  shams  yet 
in  science,  and  some  in  art ;  but  what  science  is 
fuller  of  them  than  "  Dogmatic  Tlieology,"  (if 
we  except  the  kindred  one  of  Speculative  Phi- 
losophy,) and  what  art  more  disfigured  by  them 
than  "  Homiletics  ?" 

We  use  this  term,  of  course,  in  its  modern 
technicalized  sense.  It  is  marvelous  how  it  has 
become  thus  technicalized.  Its  etymology  and 
iits  first  use  are  directly  against  its  modern  ap- 
'plication.  Homily,  in  old  sensible  Greek, 
meant  a  sociable  discourse — a  discourse  in  com- 
pany.    It  had  a  very  humble  meaning  down  to 


20  ESSAYS    ON    TUE    PREACHING 

tho  clay  of  the  Keformation  even;  and  the 
"  Book  of  Homilies," — that  sterling  old  standard 
of  the  Anglican  Clnirch — was  a  collection  of 
simple,  easy  discourses,  got  out  at  the  period  of 
the  Reformation,  to  be  read  in  the  country 
parishes,  by  such  of  the  clergy  of  the  times  (of 
whom  there  were  not  a  few)  as  were  incapable 
of  preparing  sermons  themselves.  Now  we 
have  '■'' HomiUtic^^'' — the  art  of  making  f 
homily!  AVe  endow  even  departments  in 
learned  institutions  for  the  express  purpose  of 
teaching  this  art. 

But  arc  there  not,  it  will  be  asked,  certain 
proprieties  of  pulpit  discourse?  and  if  so,  why 
not  put  them  into  scientific  form,  and  tmch 
them?  There  are,  undeniably,  such  proprieties; 
but  so  far  as  they  diflfer  from  the  ordinary  ndes , 
of  oratory,  they  are  the  proprieties  which  are  in- 
tuitive, instinctive,  we  were  about  to  say,  to  sin- 
cere common  sense.  Tliere  are  proprieties  about 
the  conversation  of  your  hearth,  your  intercourse 
with  your  children,  or  your  sorrow  over  their 
coffins;  but  would  y»ni  study  thoni  as  an  art? 

We  believe,  in  iinc,  tliat  the  overweening 
and  fastidious  elaborateness  with  which  theology 
and  its  ministration  in  the  pulpit  liave  been 
wrought — the  one  into  a  science,  the  other  into 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  21 

an  art — are  illegitimate  to  their  original  pnrity 
and  popular  character,  and  are  detractions — the 
chief  detractions,  we  are  inclined  to  think — from 
their  popnlar  acceptance  and  power.  And  this 
we  are  compelled  to  say  at  any  risk  of  imputa- 
tions of  "  radicalism." 

We  believe,  further,  that  a  change,  not  much 
short  of  a  revolution,  is  to  occur  in  these  re- 
spects before  the  world  is  much  older;  that 
dogmatic  standards  are  to  giro  way  generally 
before  tlie  supremacy  of  the  one  only  infallible 
standard — "  the  oracles  of  God  ; "  and  that  the 
ministration  of  these  oracles  from  the  pulpit  is 
to  be  reformed  from  many  of  its  factitious  pe- 
culiarities, and  made  again  what  it  was  among 
the  apostles  and  their  immediate  successors — 
earnest,  simple,  powerful  address — hortative 
talk,  if  we  may  so  call  it — modeled  after  no 
school,  and  without  technical  forms.  There  has 
been  a  slow,  but  sure  progress  toward  these  re- 
forms ever  since  the  Reformation,  especially  in 
respect  to  the  subject  matter  of  religious  instruc- 
tion. For  a  thousand  years  before  that  epoch, 
the  higher  mind  of  Christendom  was  absorbed 
in  metaphysical  theology.  Tlie  "Schoolmen". 
were  about  the  only  thinkers  of  the  "  dark  ages;" 
and  what  thinking  was  tlieirs  !     Whether  most 


22  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

profound  or  most  absurd,  it  is  difficult  to  say  ? 
But  how  has  the  good  common-sense  of  the 
emancipated  mind  of  the  Protestant  workl  leap- 
ed out  of  this  maelstrom !  How  has  time  swept 
away  the  "scholastic"  speculations!  and  what 
theologian  could  now,  without  exciting  a  smile, 
quote  the  authority  of  Lanfranc  or  Anselm, 
Duns  Scotus  or  Abelard,  Thomas  Aquinas  or 
William  of  Ockham  ?  What  has  theoloffv  now 
to  do,  or  Avill  it  ever  again  have  to  do,  with  the 
doctrines  of  Plato,  or  the  dialectics  of  Aris- 
totle?* This  reform  in  scientific  divinity  is  still 
slowly  advancing,  and  will  go  on,  we  believe 
and  pray.  Dogmatic  speculation  and  bigotry 
in  theology  will  dechne,  but  not  real  leaniing. 
Tliere  is  vastly  more  genuine  learniuir  now 
among  theologians  than  there  «.w  was  before ; 
but  it  is  showing  the  superior  good  sense  which 
accompanies  it  by  avoiding  the  old  dialectics, 
and,  to  a  good  degree,  the  old  metaphysics ;  and 
by  confining  itself  mostly  to  Biblical  criticism 

♦  We  do  not  forget  the  influence  of  Plato  on  Schleier- 
inaclier,  Ncander,  and  a  few  similar  German  minds ;  but 
such  cases  are  rare  and  anomalous.  It  need  not  be  sjiid 
U>  the  classic  student  that  wo  do  not  deny  the  permanent 
litirary  rank  of  his  nolile  writings;  we  atlirm  only  that 
the  si)erial  relation  whii-h  they  sust^iined  lo  C'liristian 
theology  for  ages  has  ceasefl,  and  probably  ci-a-^od  forover. 


KEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  23 

— ^the  exposition  of  revealed  truth  by  learned 
research,  rather  than  by  original  speculation. 

The  improvement  we  speak  of  is  characteris- 
tic of  our  age,  and  one  of  those  characteristics 
which  belong  not  merely  to  its  actual  state,  but 
to  its  tendency.  It  is,  we  repeat,  to  be  further 
developed.  And  let  us  not  fear  it.  Christianity 
will  gain  in  purity  and  in  power  by  it.  If  niue- 
tenths  of  all  the  dogmatic  writings  in  theology 
now  extant  were  to  be  at  once  burned  up,  it 
would  be  an  auto  dafe  around  which  the  Churcli 
might  well  sing  a  doxology.  The  pure,  simple 
truth  of  the  Bible  could  be  read  better  in  the 
light  of  that  conflagration  (and  conflagration  it 
would  assuredly  be)  than  in  the  "  light  which  is 
darkness"  that  comes  from  their  pages. 

This  improvement  in  the  subject-matter  of 
preaching  has  not  been  without  effect  on  preach- 
ing itself.  Technical  or  "homiletic"  as  the  lat- 
ter still  is  in  its  mannerisms,  and  dogmatic  as  it 
still  is  in  its  matter,  who  does  not  perceive  its 
rapid  improvement?  The  sermonic  forms  and 
style  common  among  even  the  Pm-itaus,  would 
not  be  tolerated  in  this  day.  Testy  as  the  reader 
may  suppose  our  present  criticism  to  be,  we 
nevertheless  write  more  in  hope  than  in  despond- 
ence.    We  believe  that,  divested  of  the  facti- 


24  ESSAYS    OX    THE    PKEACIIIXO 

tious  peculiarities  "svliicli  still  trammel  it,  the 
pulpit  will  yet  become  what  the  common  sense 
of  all  men  see,  abstractly,  that  it  ought  to  be, 
— the  very  throne  of  moral  power  in  our  world  ; 
and  that  its  voice,  like  the  trumpet  which  Moses 
describes  so  sublimely  as  echoing  above  the 
tlmnderings  of  Sinai,  shall  "wax  louder  and 
louder"  through  the  world. 

So  iar  as  this  partial  reform  of  preaching  has 
advanced  it  will  be  found,  like  that  of  theology, 
to  consist  in  a  return  (whether  designed  or  not) 
to  the  earnest  simplicity  and  directness  of  the 
early  Church. 

What  was  the  primitive  preacliing?  The  ec- 
clesiastical historians  all  agree  in  describing  it 
as,  in  the  language  of  Mosheim,  "  Exhorta- 
tion to  the  people,  neither  eloquent  [oratorical] 
nor  long,  but  full  of  warmtli  and  love,'' — that  is, 
full  of  genuine  eloquence.  This  was  the  lii'st 
form  of  the  "  Homily"  as  it  waa  delivered,  after 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  in  the  Christian 
assemblies,  and  was  douI)tless  copied  from  the 
example  of  the  synagogue,  where  our  Lord,  after 
reading,  closed  the  book,  sat  down,  and  talked 
to  the  people.  Mosheim  notices  the  declen- 
sion of  preaching  in  the  third  century,  ami  lays 
the  blame  partly  at  tlie  door  of  Origon,  that  un- 


REQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  25 

fortunate  metapliysical  father,  who  was  not  only 
"  the  first,  so  far  as  we  know,  that  made  long 
discourses,"  but  whose  originalities,  in  other  re- 
spects, seem  destined  ever  to  be  recurring  to 
vex  the  theological  world.*  Tlie  "Homily," 
in  its  more  regular  form,  followed ;  but  it  was, 
in  the  preaching  of  the  best  of  the  fathers,  a 
simple  home-directed  address  to  the  people, 
generally  in  exposition  of  the  lesson  of  the  day. 
Durino;  the  middle  aa-es  there  was  little  real 
preaching.  Ritualism  took  the  place  of  most 
else  in  religion — not  excepting  morals  them- 
selves. After  the  Reformation  preaching  re- 
vived, and  the  Anglician  "  Homilies"  were  pro- 
vided, as  we  have  said,  for  the  unlearned  .clergy 
and  rustic  consfrea-ations.  The  Puritan  outbreak 
was  the  great  era  of  preaching,  so  called ;  the 
stout-hearted  iconoclasts  of  that  movement  left 
scarcely  anything  else  in  the  public  service  of 
religion.  •  Almost  all  ritual  services  being  thrown 
away,  the  preacher  had  to  supply  their  place 
by  long  prayers  and  long  lectures.  Splendid 
thinkers  were  those  old  Puritan  divines,  but 
what  preachers!  Tliey  abound  in  riches  of 
thought,  but  their  sermons  are  mosaics  of  gems 
in  slate,  or  rather  in  burned  clay,  dry  as  the  old 
*  See  Eev.  Mr.  Beecher'.s  new  work,  "  The  Conflict  of  Ages." 


26  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PEEACHING 

burned  Lricks  of  Nineveh.  Ludicrous,  al- 
most, are  tlic  descriptions  which  remain  of  their 
tireless  pulpit  strains.  We  are  lost  in  admira- 
tion at  their  determined  pereistence,  and  tlie 
equally  determined  patience  of  their  ]iearei"s: 
both  seemed  resolute  to  weary  out  Satan  if  they 
could  not  otherwise  make  him  fly.  Burnet  re- 
fers to  a  fast-day  service,  "  in  which  there  were 
six  sermons  preached  without  intermission." 
Philip  Henry  "  used  to  begin  at  nine  in  the 
morning,  and  never  leave  the  pulpit  until  about 
four  in  the  afternoon;  spending  all  that  time 
in  praying  and  expounding,  and  singing  and 
prt'uchiug,  to  the  admiration  of  all  that  heard 
liim."  John  Howe  "  usually  began  at  nine  in 
the  morning  with  a  prayer  of  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  read  and  expounded  Scripture  for  al)Out 
threc-quartoi-s  of  an  hour,  then  prayed  half  an 
hour.  Tlie  people  then  sung  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  during  which  he  retired  and  took  some  re- 
freshment, lie  then  went  into  the  pulpit  again, 
preached  another  hour,  prayed  an  hour,  the  peo- 
ple then  sung  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  a  prayer 
of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  concluded  the  service." 
Herculean,  heroic  was  that  in  its  way! — 
woi-king  indeed — if  it  was  not  even  after  the 
apostolic  prescrijitioM  in  'J  'rim.  ii,  15. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  27 

Sturtevant  (who,  as  we  shall  show  directly, 
should  have  been  the  last  man  to  throw  stones 
at  these  sturdy  old  sermonizers)  can  hardly 
restrain  a  smile  at  them,  even  in  the  midst 
of  his  own  amazing  labyi'inth  of  Homiletic 
"divisions"  and  "  subdivisions."  He  says,  rather 
nwively,  "in  application  they  were  very  ex- 
tensive ;"  and  then  adds,  "  they  often  appro- 
priate an  entire  sermon  to  this  purpose ;  they 
give  what  they  called  uses  of  information^  ex- 
amination^ exhortation^  reproofs  encouragement^ 
and  many  other  heads.  Sometimes,  previously 
to  the  exposition,  they  would  invite  their 
audience  to  follow  them  into  certain  prior  con- 
siderations ;  to  clear  the  way  to  the  text..  One 
of  them  favored  the  people  with  sixty  or 
seventy  previous  considerations,  and  then  said 
he  was  about  to  open  the  text !  Thus,  with  all 
their  excellences,  they  had  great  faults ;  they 
were  too  much  addicted  to  the  silly  logic  of 
their  times ;  they  shredded  their  texts  into  the 
greatest  possible  number  of  parts,  and  some- 
times ran  out  into  'great  lengths  of  reasoniug. 
It  will  be  your  task  to  avail  yourself  of  their 
excellences  without  copying  their  faults."  And 
yet  he  acknowledges  their  unquestionable  in- 
tellectual   richness,    and,    in    dismissing    them, 


28  ESSAYS     ON     TIIK     PKEACHING 

drops  a  significant  liint :  "  Many  who  are  ex- 
tolled as  original  prcacliei"s  and  men  of  genius, 
have  obtained  much  of  their  reputation  by 
modernizing  our  old  authoi*s,"  Yery  true,  and 
in  so  doing  they  have,  as  usual,  stolen  not  only 
the  gems,  but  also  the  faults  of  these  old  divines. 
We  owe  what  straight-jacket  trammels  still  mar 
the  natm*ahiess  and  power  of  the  pulpit  mostly 
to  the  mannerisms  of  these  strong-headed  but 
saintly  old  "  sermonizers." 

In  spite  of  the  freer  tendencies  of  the  times 
our  text-books  on  Homiletics  still  contend  as 
lustily  for  the  technicalities  of  the  sermon  as 
the  old  French  critics  used  to  for  the  ""unities" 
of  the  drama.  Sturtevant  himself  is  one  of 
the  latest  authorities;  his  liuge  volume*  lies 
before  us  at  present,  an  appalling  octavo  of  be- 
tween six  and  seven  hundred  moi'tal  pages, 
iiiucli  of  it  small  type,  "w>/ /(/.''  Xow,  though  it 
is  hard  to  keep  a  sober  countenance  over  this 
sight,  wo  do  soberly  declare  that  had  we  a 
young  mind,  of  any  strong  common-sense  on 
the  one  hand,  or  fineness  of  faculty  and  sensibil- 
ity on  the  other,  to  train  for  the  pulpit,  we 
should  be  ex]iccting  daily,  as  wo  conducted  him 
through  ihis  monstrous  text-book — this  pervei*so 

*  "  I'lvaclier's  ^Nfnnnal,"  an  oxtrnortlinary  luiHiioiner. 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  29 

abuse  of  a  simple  and  sublime  subject — to  see 
him  retreat  from  his  purpose  with  irremediable 
disgust. 

These  more  than  six  hundred  pages  are  devot- 
ed exclusively  to  the  technicalities  of  sermoniz- 
ing. We  almost  persj)ire  as  we  ti-ace  down  the 
tables  of  contents.  Our  eye  is  arrested  by  the 
"  divisions"  of  a  subject — and  here  we  have  no 
less  than  "nine  kinds  of  divisions:"  the  "Exe- 
getical  Division,"  the  "Accommodational  Divi- 
sion," the  "Regular  Division,"  the  "Interrogat- 
ive Division,"  the  "  Observational  Division,"  the 
"Prepositional  Division,"  &c.;  and  then  come 
the  "Rise  from  Species  to  Genus,"  the  "Descent 
from  Genus  to  Species."  And  theh  again  we 
have  exordiums:  " Narrative  Exordiums,"  "Ex- 
pository Exordiums,"  "Argumentative  Exor- 
diums," "Observational  Exordiums,"  "Applica- 
tory  Exordiums,"  "Topical  Exordiums,"  and, 
alas  for  us!  even  "Extra-Tojjical  Exordiums." 
One's  thoughts  turn  away  from  a  scene  like  this 
spontaneously  to  the  Litany,  and  query  if  there 
should  not  be  a  new  prayer  there. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Here  are  about  thirty 
stubborn  pages  to  tell  you  how  to  make  a  com- 
ment on  your  text,  and  we  have  the  "Eulogistic 
Comment"    and    the    "Dislogistic    Comment," 


30  ESSAYS     ON     THE     PKEACHING 

(turn  to  your  dictionary,  reader ;  we  cannot  stop 
in  the  race  to  define,)  the  "Argumentative  Com- 
ment*' and  the  "Contemphitive  Comment,"  the 
"Hyperbolical  Comment,"  the  '"Interrogative 
Comment,"  and  the  list  tapers  off  at  last  with 
what  it  ought,  to  have  begun  and  ended  with, 
the  "Exi>ositorv  Comment." 

And  even  this  is  not  all.  Here  is  a  section 
on  the  "Difterent  kinds  of  Address,"  and  behold 
the  astute  analysis: — "The  Appellatorv,  Tlie 
Entreating,  The  Expostulator\%  The  Remedial, 
The  Directive,  The  Encouraging,  Tlie  Consoling, 
The  Elevating,  The  Alarming,  Tlie  Tender,  Tlie 
Indignant,  The  Abrupt." 

Tills  is  tlio  way  that  tlic  art  "Homiletic" 
would  teach  us  wlicn  and  how  to  be  "Tender," 
"Indignant,"  "Consoling,"  and  even  "Abrupt!" 
Nonsense ! 

Yes,  "  nonsense !"  ea}'8  any  man  of  good  sense 
in  looking  at  this  folly:  a  folly  which  would  be 
less  lamentable  if  it  could  only  be  kcj)t  to  the 
homiletic  jirofessor's  chair,  but  which  has  still 
an  almost  characteristic  effect  on  pulpit  elo- 
quence— not  only  on  the  form,  of  the  sermon, 
but  as  a  natural  consequence  on  its  very  ani- 
mv^H.  This  tireless  author  gives  all  the^se  out- 
lines ji8  practical  prescriptions.     He  oven  pre- 


KEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIM3S.  31 

sents  them  in  a  precise  formula.  We  must  yield 
to  the  temptation  to  quote  it.  "There  are,"  he 
says,  "certain  technical  signs  employed  to  dis- 
tinguish the  several  parts  of  a  discourse.  The 
first  class  consists  of  the  princijpal  divisions, 
marked  in  Roman  letters,  thus : — I.,  II.,  III., 
lY.,  &c.  ]^ext,  the  suhdivisions  of  the  first 
class,  in  figures,  1,  2,  3,  &c.  Under  these,  sub- 
divisions of  the  second  class,  marked  with  a 
curve  on  the  right,  as  1,)  2,)  3,)  &c.  Then,  suh- 
divisions  of  the  third  class,  marked  with  two 
curves,  as  (1,)  (2,)  (3,)  &c. ;  and  under  these,  sub- 
divisions of  the  fourth  class,  in  crotchets,  thus : 
[1,][2,][3.]    As- 

"  I.  Principal  division. 

1 .  Subdivision  of  first  class. 
1.)         "  "      second  class, 

(1.)       "  "      third  class. 

[1.]        "  "      fourth  class." 

Mathematical  this,  certainly ;  some  of  Euclid's 
problems  are  plainer.  As  a  "  demonst]rtition  "  is 
obviously  necessary,  the  author  proceeds  to  give 
the  outline  of  a  sermon  on  ^^  The  Diversity  of 
Ministerial  Gifts^''  from  the  text  '■'■N'ow  there 
are  Diversities  of  Oifts^''  &c.  He  has  but  two 
"General  Divisions,"  but  makes  up  for  their 
paucity  by  a  generous  allowance  of  "Subdivi- 
sions."    His  "General  Divisions"  are,   I.  Ex- 


32  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

emjplify  the  2'vuth  of  the  Text.  II.  Derive  some 
Lessons  of  Instruction^  &c., — au  arrangement 
simple  and  suitable  enough  for  any  popular 
audience,  if  he  were  content  with  it,  hut  under 
the  first  head  he  has  two  "subdivisions,"  the 
fii-st  of  which  is  reduced  to  thirteen  sub-subdivi- 
sions, and  one  of  these  thirteen  again  to  seven 
sub-sub-subdivisions !  Tlie  second  of  his  subdi- 
visions is  again  divided  into  eight  sub-subdivi- 
sions, while  the  "homily"  (alas  for  the  name!) 
is  completed  by  a  merciless  slashing  of  the 
second  "  general  division"  into  no  less  than  eight 
subdivisions.  Tlie  honest  author,  when  he  takes 
breath  at  the  end,  seems  to  liave  some  compunc- 
tious misgivings  about  this  infinitesimal  minc- 
ing of  a  noble  theme,  and  reminds  the  amazed 
student  that  though  tlic  plan  should  be  followed 
"  in  the  composition  of  a  sermon,"  the  "  minor 
divisions"  can  be  concealed  from  view  in  preach- 
ing ;  ari^  he  concludes  the  medley  of  nonsense 
with  one  sensible  and  very  timely  admonition: 
— "If  a  discoui-se  contain  a  considerable  number 
of  divisions  and  subdivisions,  care  should  be 
taken  to  fill  uj)  the  respective  parts  with  suit- 
able matter,  or  it  will  be,  indeed,  a  mere  sk4'/e- 
ton — bones  strung  together,  'very  many  and 
veiy  diy.'" 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  33 

"We  acknowledge  that  we  ought  to  ask  the 
pardon  of  the  reader  for  obtruding  upon  him 
these  minute  follies ;  but  we  have  wished  to 
treat  the  subject  in  its  matter-of-fact  details, 
and  to  contribute,  in  the  most  practical  way  we 
could,  to  the  progress  of  what  we  hope  is  a  per- 
manent reform,  now  going  on  in  our  pulpits. 
We  have  quoted  for  the  purpose,  from  one  of 
the  most  common  works  on  Homiletics,*  an 
author  who,  amid  this  egregious  mass  of  non- 
sense, sajs,  and  with  some  truth,  that  he  "passes 
over  a  great  many  "  things  discussed  by  one  of 
his  most  noted  predecessors,  because  the  omitted 
matters,  "  treating  of  the  manner  of  discussing 
different  kinds  of  texts,  are  strictly  learned  and 
criticdX,  and  such  nice  ^joints  may  be  waived  for 
the  present !" 

We  cannot  drop  the  allusion  to  these  "  Homi- 

*  And  it  is,  we  believe,  considered  one  of  the  best  also. 
Bridge's  Christian  Ministry  is  another  favorite  but  formida- 
ble Avork,  an  octavo  of  about  five  hundred  pages,  some- 
what less  technical,  but  stuffed  with  useless  common-places, 
which  have  the  advantage,  however,  of  being  relieved  by 
incessant  and  very  choice  quotations  from  the  best  writers, 
passages  that  sparkle  like  gems  in  a  heap  of  dry  scorite. 
This  pious  writer  reminds  us,  by  his  talent  at  quotation, 
of  old  Burton's  "  Anatomy  of  Melancholy."  There  would 
be  some  danger  of  that  malady  in  reading  the  book,  were 
it  not  for  its  refreshing  extracts. 
3 


34  ESSAYS    ON    THE     PREACHING 

letic"  books  without  admonishing  the  young 
theological  student  to  obstinately  eschew  them. 
Tiy  not  to  masticate  their  dry  husks.  Turn  to 
the  rich  mines  of  the  great  theological  writers 
for  intellectual  resources ;  turn  to  the  standard 
works  on  common  oratory  for  the  few  simple 
principles  of  the  art ;  for  these  alone  are  what 
you  need,  besides  your  common  sense.  If  you 
have  not  common  sense  enough  to  guide  you, 
with  such  simple  aids,  to  a  manly,  befitting 
address, — if  your  natural  faculties  are  not  good 
enough  to  enable  you  to  make  a  rational  "  com- 
ment "  on  your  text  without  this  drilling  in  the 
"  eulogistic  "  and  "  dislogistic  comments," — then 
turn  away  from  the  altar — you  have  no  right 
there.  J^ut,  at  all  events,  turn  away  from  these 
"Ilomiletic"  text-books ;  turn  to  your  own  heart, 
if  you  have  nothing  else,  and  evoke  its  common 
sympathies  and  common  sense ;  these  will  be 
infinitely  better  than  the  Ilomiletic  manuals ; 
turn  to  ordinary  books  of  taste  and  style,  they 
are  even  better.  You  had  better,  like  Chrys- 
ostom,  "  the  golden-mouthed,"  go  to  sleep  with 
old  Aristophanes  under  your  ]>ill(»\v  than  with 
these  huge  Ilomiletic  ]>hantoms  haunting  your 
dreams.  Arist(»]>hanos  gave  the  Byzantine  bish- 
op the   purest  exam))le  of  the  Attic  dialect  at 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  35 

least ;  these  Homiletic  authors  will  give  you 
neither  rhetoric  nor  logic. 

We  have  thus  indicated,  in  part,  the  actual 
character  of  the  sermon;  its  critical forin^  as  a 
mode  of  discoui-se,  as  well  as  much  of  its  suhjcct- 
matter,  needs,  we  think,  no  little  reform.  Tliat 
reform  is  in  progress,  as  we  have  admitted.  It 
has  advanced  greatly  in  our  day,  so  much,  indeed, 
that  the  extreme  use  of  the  critical  peculiarities, 
which  w^ere  deemed  by  the  Puritan  divines 
almost  essential  to  the  sermon,  would  not  now 
be  tolerated  by  our  congregations.  Even  the 
technical  peculiarities  which  have  been  tolera- 
ted in  the  modern  sermon  are  beoinninsr  srradu- 
ally  to  disappear  from  the  discourses  of  the  first 
class  of  pulpit  intellects,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  before  many  yeai-s  the  "  firstly,"  "  sec- 
ondly," and  "  thirdly" — the  whole  technical  herd 
of  "  divisions"  and  subdivisions" — will,  like  the 
swine  before  the  simple,  powerful  word  of 
Christ,  "  run  violently  down  a  steep  place  into 
the  sea  "  of  oblivion,  and  "  perish  in  its  waters." 

The  usual  plea  that  minute  dissections  heljj 
the  popular  mind  to  remember  the  discourse,  is 
unfounded  in  fact.  The  clerical  hearers,  if  any 
such  be  present,  will  remember  them,  so  admira- 
ble a  thing  is  "sermonizing"  clerically  consid- 


36  KS8AYS     ON    THK     PKEACIIING 

ered;  hut  these  technical  niceties  are  irksome 
to  the  people.  Ask  yonr  common  hearere  what 
they  remember  of  any  given  sermon  ;  you  will 
scarcely  find  a  recollection  of  "  firstly,"  "  sec- 
ondly," or  "  thirdly ;"  and  as  for  the  suhtechnics, 
they  have  entirely  escaped  into  the  air.  The 
people  remeniher  the  main  subject,  the  most 
natural  and  vivid  illustrations  of  it,  and  the  most 
powerful  liortative  points  in  the  enforcement  of 
it ;  but  seldom  or  never  its  technical  method. 

Equally  fallacious  is  the  supposition  that, 
by  alibrding  the  preacher  something  definite  to 
stand  upon — a  structure  of  thought — they  secure 
to  liini  tliat  self-possession,  tliat  "freedom"  so 
prized  l)y  the  public  speaker.  If  these  tech- 
nicalities constituted  the  real  preparation  of 
the  discourse,  there  would  be  some  ti'uth  in 
the  supposition;  l)ut  arc  they  not  usually  only 
trammels  upon  it,  curbing  the  freedom  of  the 
mind  ?  "  Freedom,"  as  it  is  called,  in  public 
speaking,  depends  upon  other  and  many  con- 
ditions. No  ])rcparation  can  always  secure  it. 
He  that  is  forever  anxious  for  it  will  be  likely 
the  less  to  possess  it.  The  sensibibty  that 
oftenest  secures  powerful  eloquence  is  often, 
also,  the  cause  of  agitation  and  failure ;  and  he 
that  would  be  powerful  in  the  jmlpit  must  be 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  37 

resigned  to  occasional  defeats.  But  let  him 
not  care  for  that;  one  untrammeled,  thrilling, 
sweeping  discourse,  is  worth  half-a-dozen  dry, 
respectable  homilies,  and  a  man  of  genuine 
eloquence  will  soon  come  to  be  recognized  as 
such,  notwithstanding  his  failures ;  nay,  the 
latter  will  come  to  be  considered  by  his  hearers 
— whether  by  their  favoritism  or  their  criticism 
— as  the  enhancing  contrasts  of  his  successful 
eiforts — the  shades  of  the  picture. 

There  are,  unquestionably,  as  we  have  said, 
proprieties  of  pulpit  discoui'se  as  of  any  other 
discourse;  but  there  are  none,  that  we  can  con- 
ceive of,  peculiar  to  it  except  the  peculiarly 
religious  spirit,  and  the  warmer,  higher  •  elo- 
quence which  that  should  insure.  The  few 
general  principles  of  eloquence  which  are  ap- 
plicable to  all  oratory  are  all  that  need  be 
sought  for  the  pulpit.  The  sermon  should  be 
relieved  of  useless  technical  peculiarities  ;  of 
everything  peculiar  to  it,  in  fine,  except  its 
higher  moral  tone ;  and,  placed  upon  the  same 
platform  with  all  other  sound  popular  eloquence, 
be  allowed  there  untrammeled  play.  When 
thus  emancipated  it  will  have  its  legitimate 
power. 

What  would  be  the  fate  of  any  popular,  or 


38  ESSAYS    ON     THE     PKEACHINO 

forensic,  or  senatorial  orator,  who  should  adopt 
the  stringent  artificialities  of  tlie  sermonizer? 

Clergymen,  elevated  though  tliey  truly  are 
as  a  class,  cling  closely  to  class  opinions,  and  it 
is  perhaps  inevitable  under  tlieir  circumstances. 
Tlieir  own  estimate  of  pulpit  ability  tends  to 
perpetuate  the  defects  of  the  pulpit.  Tlie  man 
that  stirs  the  soul,  that  moves  the  multitude, 
that  speaks  in  the  desk  as  lie  would  in  the 
vestry  or  on  the  platform — naturally  and  power- 
fully— he  is  not  usually  considered  by  his  cleri- 
cal brethren  the  really  great  preacher ;  he  is 
the  "  poet,"  the  "  elocutionist,"  the  "  revivalist." 
He  is  "  the  great  preacher,"  nevertlieless.  Let 
him  be  content ;  for  God,  and  the  good  com- 
mon-sense which  God  has  put  into  the  common 
mind,  will  always  recognize  him  as  such.  There 
are  two  classes  which,  we  apprehend,  usually 
pass  clerical  criticism  as  "great  preachere," 
viz.:  the  gi'eat  "sermonizers," — men  who  most 
effectually  mechanize  a  discourse,  shackling  it 
with  strict  distinctions ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
those  who  can  most  elaborately  speculate  out  a 
dogmatic  subject — men  of  powerful  thought, 
but  who  display  that  power  more  in  the  liand- 
ling  of  a  difficult  topic  than  in  the  control  of 
the    popular  mind — the   sweeping,    renovating 


REQUIKED    BY     THE     TIMES.  39 

sway  over  the  conscience  and  life  of  the  multi- 
tude, which  is  really  the  highest  power  on  earth 
— the  power  which  the  Holy  Ghost  himself  de- 
scends from  heaven  to  exert.  In  both  these 
resj)ects  the  pulpit  will  be  revolutionized  in 
less  than  a  hundred  years  from  to-day.  "  Tliat 
which  metaphysical  preaching  teaches,"  says 
D wight,  "  may  be  true,  and  the  arguments  used 
to  support  it  may  be  sound ;  but  the  distinctions 
are  so  subtile,  and  the  reasoning  so  abstruse  and 
difficult,  that  the  hearer's  attention  to  the  truth 
is  lost  in  his  attention  to  the  preacher's  in- 
genuity; his  mind  prevented  from  feeling  what 
is  intended,  by  the  absoi"ption  of  his  thoughts 
in  the  difficulties  of  the  argument,  and  his  heart 
chilled  by  the  cold  manner  in  which  all  such 
discussions  are  conducted.  The  metaphysician, 
whether  aware  of  it  or  not,  is  employed  in  dis- 
playing his  own  ingenuity,  and  not  in  disclosing 
and  confirming  the  truth  of  God." 

"  The  plain  and  easy  way  of  preaching,"  says 
Robinson  in  his  notes  on  Claude,  "  is  wonder- 
fully adapted  to  the  capacities,  and  inclinations, 
too,  of  a  multitude  of  hearers;  and  such  a 
method,  purged  of  artificial  logic,  will  one  day 
or  other,  it  is  hoped,  imiversally  prevail." 


40  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACUING 


i 


ESSAY    11. 

DEFECTS  OF  MODERN  PEEACHING,  AND  THEIK  REMEDIES- 
CONTINUED. 

The  Literary  Rank  of  the  Sermon  —  Its  lack  of  Popular  Interest  — 
Reason  of  it  —  Lack  of  Moral  Power — What  should  be  the  Power 
of  the  Pulpit? 

In  answering  tlie  question,  What  is  tJie  actual 
character  of  our  preaching?  we  liave  referred 
to  defects  in  both  the  suLject-matter  and  the 
critical  form  of  the  sermon. 

Mostly  owing  to  these  defects  is  it,  perhaps, 
that  sermons  constitute  so  small  a  staple  in  our 
popular  literature.  Tliey  have  been  published 
abundantly  ;  but  they  do  not  last  long,  and  have 
little  intlnenco  while  they  do  bust.  It  was  esti- 
mated, twenty  yeare  ago,  that  there  were  at 
least  a  million  printed  sermons  in  our  lan- 
guage ;*  this  estimate  did  not  include  the  pub- 
lished sermons  of  this  couutiy ;  add  to  it  these, 
together  with  the  vast  issues  of  the  kind  in  Eng- 
gland  since  the  calculation,  and  the  nundjer 
must  swell  immensely.  Yet  how  few  on  this 
prodigious  list  have  any  popular  currency,  or 
*  SatclifTe's  "  Notes  to  Osterwald." 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  41 

will  ever  be  reprinted !  A  critic  in  the  Kdin- 
hurgh  Review  (Oct.,  1840)  expresses  surprise 
that  "  there  should  be  so  small  a  proportion  of 
sermons  destined  to  live;  that  out  of  the  rii'dlioii 
and  upward,  preached  annually  throughout  the 
empire,  there  should  be  so  very  few  that  are  re- 
membered three  whole  days  after  they  are  de- 
livered— fewer  still  that  are  committed  to  the 
press — scarcely  one  that  is  not  in  a  few  years 
absolutely  forgotten.  If  any  one,"  continues 
the  reviewer,  "  were,  for  the  firet  time,  informed 
what  preaching  was — if,  for  example,  one  of  the 
ancient  critics  had  been  told  that  the  time  would 
come  when  vast  multitudes  of  persons  should 
assemble  regularly,  to  be  addressed,  in  the-  midst 
of  their  devotions,  upon  the  most  sacred  truths 
of  a  religion  sublime  beyond  all  the  speculations 
of  philosophers,  yet  in  all  its  most  important 
points  simple,  and  of  the  easiest  apprehension ; 
that  with  those  truths  were  to  be  mingled  dis- 
cussions of  the  whole  circle  of  human  duties, 
according  to  a  system  of  morality  singularly 
pure  and  attractive ;  that  the  more  dignified 
and  the  more  interesting  parts  of  national  affairs 
were  not  to  be  excluded  fi-om  the  discourse; 
that,  in  short,  the  most  elevating,  the  most 
touching,  and  the  most  interesting  of  all  topics 


42  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PltaCACIIING 

were  to  be  the  subject-matter  of  the  address, 
directed  to  persons  sufficiently  vci^sed  in  them, 
and  assembled  only  from  the  desire  they  felt  to 
hear  them  handled — surely  the  conclusion 
would  at  once  have  been  drawn,  that  such  occa- 
sions must  train  up  a  race  of  the  most  consum- 
mate orators,  and  that  the  effusions  to  which 
they  gave  birth  must  needs  cast  all  other  rheto- 
rical compositions  into  the  shade."  So  it  would 
seem  a  priori  j  but  how  otherwise  is  the  seem- 
ing a  posteriori  ?  Tlie  reason  of  the  fact  we 
are  not  now  to  discuss ;  it  will  come  before  us 
hereafter ;  the  fact  itself  is  unquestionable.  Is 
there,  indeed,  any  other  department  of  litera- 
ture which  yields  comparatively  so  few  perma- 
nent productions?  And  is  there  anything,  of  a 
merely  critical  character,  that  would  more 
effectually  impair  the  literary  pretensions  of 
any  other  productions  of  the  pen  than  a  liability 
to  the  charge  of  its  having  the  mannerisms  or 
general  style  of  the  sermon?  In  this  country 
the  pulpit  has  made  ample  contributions  to  the 
press ;  but  how  many  of  its  productions  will  be 
permanent?  IIow  many  American  sermons 
which  have  been  publii^hod  within  the  present 
generation  will  be  read  at  all  by  the  next  ?  We 
cannot  enumerate  more  than  two  authors  who 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  43 

will  probably  have  this  honor,  and  they  will 
have  it,  not  because  their  productions  are  ser- 
mons, but  in  spite  of  that  fact. 

Sermons,  in  fact,  are  proverbially  dull  read- 
ing. If  they  have  any  j^opular  currency  at  all, 
it  is  usually  because  of  some  local  or  temporary 
occasion.  When  they  discuss  the  peculiar 
topics  of  the  pulpit  alone,  though  these  are  con- 
fessedly the  grandest  themes  of  human  thought 
and  solicitude,  they  generally  fail  of  popular  ac- 
ceptance through  the  press.  Clergymen,  we 
suppose,  are  the  chief  readers,  now-a-days,  of 
printed  sermons, — somewhat,  probably,  after 
the  manner  of  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley's  chaplain. 
The  old  standard  works  of  the  kind — many  of 
them  voluminous,  and  not  a  few  of  them  replete 
with  ability — are  becoming  daily  more  con- 
fined to  clerical  libraries.  Except  when  sus- 
tained by  some  historical  or  other  extraordinary 
prestige,  like  those  of  Wesle^  or  Luther,  they  are 
seldom  found  in  the  homes  of  the  common  j)eo- 
ple.  On  the  shelves  of  more  cultivated  families 
or  literary  laics  they  may  occasionally  be  de- 
tected in  an  obscure  and  dusty  corner,  but  less 
and  less  commonly  even  there.  In  public  li- 
braries they  form  the  most  undisturbed  resting- 
places  for  venerable  spiders  and  book-worms. 


44  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PliEACIIING 

And  this  fact  is  certainly  not  altogether  owing 
to  a  lack  of  interest  in  the  subjects  proper  to 
sermon  literature;  it  is  owing  to  the  critical 
peculiarities  of  the  sermon.  Tlic  ]jeoplc  read 
extensively  on  those  subjects;  they  are  a  mor- 
al, a  constitutional  demand  of  human  nature. 
Tliere  are  but  few  others  that  engage  equally 
their  attention,  but  they  require  them  in  a  dif- 
ferent form.  Thev  read  them  in  reliscious  bio- 
graphics,  in  manuals  of  practical  religion,  in 
essays  even, — in  any  shape  rather  than  the  ser- 
mon. And  if  a  volume  of  sermons  has  any  con- 
siderable popular  circulation  now-a-days,  it  is 
because  either  of  some  characteristic  deviation 
fi-om  the  old  sermonic  form  and  style,  giving  it 
the  title  of  a  special  book,  like  Jay's  "Exer- 
cises," or  his  "  Christian  Contemplated,"  Beecher 
on  "  Intemperance,"  or  Cheever's  "  AVindings 
of  the  River  of  Life,"  or  else  by  reason  of  some 
special  provocatives  of  ability  or  heresy,  like 
the  discoui*ses  of  Channing  or  Pai'ker. 

Kindred  to  this  view  of  the  subject  is  another, 
viz.:  t/te  comparatively  little  popular  interest 
which  is  felt  in  tlie  sermon  as  delivered  from 
the  pulpit.  Dr.  Johnson  ascribes  the  lack  of 
success,  among  writei*s  of  religious  poetry,  to 
tlie  sacredncss,  the  spiritual  elevation  of  their 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  45 

themes,  which  our  sentiments  of  religions  rever- 
ence* will  not  allow  to  be  treated  like  other  sub- 
jects. There  may  be  some  truth  in  the  remark, 
and  it  may  have  some  j)ertinency  to  the  subject 
before  us.  There  is  also,  we  apprehend,  a  still 
more  profound  reason  for  this  lack  of  interest 
in  both  religious  poetry  and  religious  discourse, 
viz. :  the  natural  repugnance  of  depraved  human 
nature  to  whatever  is  holy — that  is,  whatever  is 
unlike  itself.  This,  we  think,  a  truer  solution  of 
the  problem  than  that  assigned  by  Johnson. 
But,  allowing  for  the  influence  of  these  conside- 
rations, is  not  the  comparatively  slight  interest 
which  accompanies  preaching  still  an  amazing 
fact?  And  is  it  not  manifestly  owing,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  peculiar  style  and  mannerisms 
of  the  pulpit?  The  preacher,  many  of  whose 
hearers,  on  the  Sabbath,  are  asleep,  and  the 
greater  proi^ortion  at  least  half  asleep,  finds  no 
difliculty  •  on  the  week-day  night  in  keeping 
them  thoroughly  awake  by  the  less  technical 
discussion  of  an  infinitely  less  important  subject, 
in  the  town-lyceiim.  Why  is  this  difference 
between  the  religious  congregation  and  any 
other  popular  assembly  so  marked?  Tlie  inat- 
tention, the  vacant  faces,  the  drowsiness  almost 
habitually  seen  in  the  Sabbath  assembly  would 


46  ESSAYS    ON    TllK    I'KEACUING 

be  quite  anomalous  in  the  scientific  or  literary 
lecture-room,  the  theater,  the  concert,  the  legis- 
lature, or  the  court-room.  However  dull  the 
su])ject  in  the  latter,  still  it  will  command  more 
interest;  the  manner  of  its  presentation,  its 
style,  all  its  accompaniments,  seem  more  natural 
and  more  readily  take  up  the  attention.  Tliis, 
we  repeat,  is  the  main  secret  of  the  difference. 
Tlie  mannerisms  of  the  pulpit  have  a  pervading 
influence  through  all  its  ministrations;  they 
subtly  affect  the  very  utterance  of  most  preach- 
ers; and  even  men  of  culture  and  manly  sense 
often  have  in  the  sacred  desk  tones  which,  if 
used  in  a  literary  lecture,  would  produce  either 
a  general  titter,  or  a  general  stupor.  It  is  quite 
fallacious  to  say  that  these  tones  and  other  man- 
nerisms are  the  effect  of  the  greater  solemnity 
of  the  pulpit.  We  must  be  excused  from  stop-" 
ping  to  answer  any  such  plea;  the  less  said 
about  it  the  better. 

Of  course  we  do  not  affirm  that  these  defects 
and  this  consequent  lack  of  popular  interest  in 
the  preached  sermon  are  univei-sal.  Ihit  are 
they  not  general?  Do  they  not  to  a  great  extent 
give  character  to  the  performances  of  the  pul- 
pit? Tlie  late  T*rofcss..r  Ware,  jr.,  (in  the  best 
treatise  we   have  in  favor  of  extemporaneous 


KEQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  47 

preaching,)  has  much  to  say  on  tins  dry,  rigid, 
stupefying  oratory,  if  oratory  it  can  be  called. 
"  When  a  young  man,"  he  remarks,  "  leaves  the 
seclusion  of  a  student's  life  to  preach  to  his  fellow- 
men,  he  is  likely  to  speak  to  them  as  if  they 
were  scholars.  He  imagines  them  to  be  capable 
of  appreciating  the  niceties  of  method  and  style, 
and  of  being  affected  by  the  same  sort  of  senti- 
ment, illustration,  and  cool  remark,  which  affects 
those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  be  guided 
by  the  dumb  and  lifeless  pages  of  a  book.  He 
therefore  talks  to  them  calmly,  is  more  anxious 
for  correctness  than  impression,  fears  to  make 
more  noise  or  to  have  more  motion  than  the  very 
letters  on  his  manuscript;  addressing  himself,  as 
he  thinks,  to  the  intellectual  part  of  man;  but 
he  forgets  that  the  intellectual  man  is  not  very 
easy  of  access,  and  must  be  approached  through 
the  senses,  and  affections,  and  imagination.  There 
was  a  class  of  rhetoricians  and  orators  at  Rome 
in  the  time  of  Cicero,  who  were  famous  for 
having  made  the  same  mistake.  They  would  do 
everything  by  a  fixed  and  almost  mechanical 
rule — by  calculation  and  measurement.  Their 
sentences  were  measured,  their  gestures  were 
measured,  their  tones  were  measured ;  and  they 
framed  canons  of  judgment  and  taste,  by  which 


49  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACniNG 

it  was  pronouuced  an  affront  on  the  intellectual 
nature  of  man  to  assail  liini  with  epithets,  and 
exclamations,  and  varied  tones,  and  em])liatic 
gesture.  They  censured  the  free  and  flowing 
manner  of  Cicero  as  '  tumid  and  exuberant,'  nee 
satis  p}X'ssus,  supra  inoduvn  exidtans  et  super- 
fiucris.  They  cultivated  a  more  guarded  and 
concise  style,  which  might  indeed  please  the 
critic  or  the  scholar,  but  was  wholly  unfitted  to 
instruct  or  move  a  promiscuous  audience;  as 
was  said  of  one  of  them,  oratio — doctis  et  attente 
axidientihxis  erat  illustrisi  a  tmiltitiidine  autem 
et  a  foro^  an  nata  eloquent  la  est,  devorabatur. 
Hie  taste  of  the  nmltitude  prevailed,  and  Cicero 
was  the  admiration  of  the  people,  while  those 
who  pruned  themselves  by  a  more  rigid  and 
philosophical  law, 

'Coldly  correct  Jind  critically  dull,' 
were  frequently  deserted  by  the  audience  in  the 
midst  of  their  harangues."* 

The  most  yjopular  preachers  of  any  period,  it 
will  be  found,  are  such  as,  by  the  impetuosity 
of  their  fcolings,  or  the  ])ower  of  their  genius, 
break  over  most  of  ihese  ]>rofossioiud  habits. 
"VVhiteiield,  we  may  suppose,  Avas  the  greatest 
jmlj)it  orator  of  modern  ages.  Tlie  remains  of 
*  Mid<lloton\s  Life  of  Cicero,  iii.  321. 


BEQUIBED     BY     THE     TIMES.  49 

Ills  sermons,  (wretched  as  tliey  are,)  and  all  tra- 
ditions respecting  his  eloquence,  show  that  he 
defied  artificial  restraints  in  the  pulpit,  and 
poured  his  soul  out  spontaneously,  irrepressibly, 
upon  the  people,  often  using  language  and  ges- 
tures which  would  startle  the  staid  and  self- 
reverent  dignity  of  the  modern  desk.  Ware 
ascribes  much  of  the  peculiar  power  of  Chal- 
mers to  a  similar  cause.  "  He  abandoned  the 
pure  and  measured  style,  and  adopted  a  hetero- 
geneous mixture  of  the  gaudy,  the  pompous, 
and  colloquial,  ofifensive  to  the  ears  of  literary 
men,  but  highly  acceptable  to  those  who  are 
less  biased  by  the  authority  of  a  standard  taste 
and  established  models.  We  need  not  go  to  the 
extreme  of  Chalmers — for  there  is  no  necessity 
for  inaccuracy,  bombast,  or  false  taste — but  we 
should  doubtless  gain  by  adopting  his  principle. 
Tlie  object  is  to  address  men  according  to  their 
actual  character,  and  in  that  mode  in  which  their 
habits  of  mind  may  render  them  most  accessible. 
As  but  few  are  thinkers  or  readers,  a  congrega- 
tion is  not  to  be  addressed  as  such ;  but,  their 
modes  of  life  being  remembered,  constant  regard 
must  be  had  to  their  need  of  external  attraction." 
Look  around  you  and  see  who  are  the  most 
interesting   preachers — most  interesting  to  the 


so  ES8AY6    ON    THE     PKEACHIN*} 

masses.  Are  they  not  such — -whether  intellect- 
ually eminent  or  not — as  substitute,  in  the  place 
of  the  stereotyped  mannerisms  of  the  pulpit, 
their  own  natural  characteristics  ?  Even  if  some 
of  these  characteristics  are  defects,  yet  by  being 
personal  rather  than  functional — by  their  7iatu- 
ralness  they  take  liold  on  the  interest  of  the 
people,  and  by  securing  that  they  secure  atten- 
tion and  effect. 

What  is  thus  true  of  individuals  is  true  also 
of  denominations.  The  Christian  bodies  which 
have  greatest  sway  of  the  popular  inind  are 
those  whose  ministries  are  least  habitiuited  to 
artificial  homiletic  restraints ;  such  as  itinerate, 
preaching  in  private  houses,  bams,  camp-meet- 
iugs,  tfec,  and  are  therefore  less  trammeled  by 
the  prescriptive  decorums  of  the  pulpit ;  such 
as  extemporize,  and  are  therefore  more  natural 
in  style ;  such  (it  must  be  acknowledged)  as  are 
not  professionally  educated,  and  therefore  if  des- 
titute of  many  mental  advantages,  have  yet  the 
great  one  of  being  themselves,  and  not  copies 
of  scholastic  and  Procrustean  models.  Tlie  fact 
is  unquestionable ;  it  is  ^^^•itten  out  on  the  wliole 
geography  of  our  own  country.  It  implies  no 
retlection  against  ministerial  education,  but  only 
against  ministerial  miseducation. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE     TIMES.  61 

One  more  view  of  the  subject.  It  will  hardly 
be  denied  that  the  moral  poioer  of  the  pulpit  is 
nothing  like  what,  a  priori^  we  should  suppose 
it  ought  to  be.  Decided  as  many  of  our  re- 
marks may  have  seemed  thus  far,  the  reader 
will' do  us  the  justice  to  acknowledge  that  we 
have  been  disposed  to  give  them  all  due  qualifi- 
cation. In  referring  to  the  present  point  we 
would  not  speak  unguardedly ;  we  believe  the 
Christian  ministry  has  exerted,  and  is  exerting, 
a  salutary  and  incalculable  influence  on  the 
mind  of  all  Protestant  countries,  and  especially 
of  our  own.  AYithout  pohtical  support,  it  has 
covered  the  land  with  religious  institutions.  If 
at  any  one  time  it  can  be  said  that  rehgioii 
makes  but  little  relative  progress  among  us,  still 
it  is  a  mighty  service  to  maintain  it  in  its  wont- 
ed status,  and  this  is  done,  officially,  at  least,  by 
the  Christian  ministry.  ISTo  professional  men 
receive  a  less  average  salary.*  None  do  harder 
work,  none  wield  a  more  positive  and  salutary 
influence.  Whatever  may  be  said  to  the  con- 
trary, the  candid  observer  cannot  deny  that  they 
give  impulse  and  guidance  to  most,  if  not  all, 

*  The  average  salary  of  clergymen  in  the  United  States' 
■was  estimated  at  $350  at  the  time  these  articles  were 
written ;  it  is  now  about 


52  ESSAYS    ON    THE    TKEACHING 

the  charities  and  beneficent  enterprises  of  the 
people.  Still,  is  it  not  the  case  that  most  of  this 
invaluable  influence  flows  from  exti*a  pulpit  la- 
bors? Does  the  pulpit,  in  itself  considered,  exert 
the  power  which  its  commanding  position  justi- 
fies ?  We  reply  with  an  unhesitating  negative. 
What  is  that  position  ?  Tlie  pulpit  is  omni- 
present among  the  people.  It  stands  on  a  basis 
of  divine  authority.  Its  batteries  cover  with 
their  evangelic  fire  almost  every  point  of  the 
moral  field  of  the  land.  They  are  manned  by 
men  who  are  mostly  trained  expressly  for  their 
position,  and  who  avowedly  enter  upon  it  with 
the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  of  moral  heroism, 
and,  if  need  be,  of  martyrdom.  Tliey  have 
one-seventh,  and  generally  more,  of  the  time  of 
the  people  in  which  to  utter  to  them  their  ap- 
peals. These  appeals  take  hold  upon  all  the 
great  solicitudes  of  life,  death,  and  eternity. 
The  moral  constitution  of  human  nature  in- 
stinctively recognizes  them.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances what  ought  to  be  the  power,  the 
sublime  demonstrations  of  the  pulpit  ?  If  such 
a  theater  of  eloquence  and  influence  had  been 
hypothetically  described  to  Cicero  or  Demosthe- 
nes, what  would  have  been  his  judgment  of  its 
capacity  for  popular  eflect?     Would  he  not  slip- 


EEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  53 

pose  that  its  sublime,  its  iini versa],  and  ever 
reiterated  appeals  would  resound  tlirougli  a  na- 
tion like  trumpets  from  heaven;  that  it  would 
dominate  over  and  cast  down  all  public  evil  in- 
fluences; that  it  would  exhibit  an  heroic  ex- 
ample of  self-conscious  strength  and  indepen- 
dence of  public  prejiidices ;  that  its  verdict 
uttered  on  any  public  question  which  involved 
moral  relations  would  be  irresistibly  decisive, 
and  that  its  thunders  would  beat  down  and  dis- 
pel everywhere  oppression,  war,  intemperance, 
the  rife  coiTuptions  of  business,  of  fashionable, 
and  even  of  political  life?  that  it  would,  in  fine, 
do  what  its  great  Founder  expressly  designed  it 
should  do — morally  renovate  mankind  ? 

Does  it  do  so? 

Will  it  ever  do  so,  without  being  first  reno- 
vated itself? 

We  have  thus  answered  somewhat  our  first 
question  respecting  the  actual  character  of  the 
pulpit.  It  does  not  wield  its  legitimate  moral 
power;  it  is  deficient  in  j)opular  interest;  it 
contributes  little  of  intrinsic  value  to  literature; 
it  needs  improvement  in  much  of  the  subject- 
matter,  and  in  the  critical  form  of  its  discussions. , 

Why  is  it  so  ?  is  a  question  which  remains  to 
be  considered. 


54  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACITTTTG 


ESSAY   HI. 

INEFFICIENCY  OF  THE  PULPIT— FURTHER  CAUSES  OF  IT 
AND  THEIR  REMEDIES. 

The  Puljiit  too  Limited  in  the  Application  of  its  Hii1)ituiil  Themes 
—  The  "  Evangelistic"  I'ulpit,  its  Defects  —  The  "  Uationalistic" 
ruljjit,  its  Lack  of  Moral  Power  —  The  "Preaching  of  Christ"  — 
The  FreeJom  of  the  I'ulpit  —  How  can  it  be  Regained '?  —  Chal- 
lenged by  the  Intidelity  of  the  Day. 

Wk  liavc  discussed  the  defects  of  tlic  inodcni 
pulpit — defects  in  both  the  subject-matter  and 
tlie  critical  form  of  the  sermon — its  slight  con- 
tribution to  our  permanent  literature — its  lack 
of  popular  interest — its  lack  of  moral  power. 
Why  is  it  so?  is  the  question  which  remains  to 
be  answered. 

The  jndjni  fails  to  ai^phj  sufficiently  to  cur- 
rent events^  and  common  life,  the  great  evan- 
gelical pnncijyl^s  which  are  its  hahituaZ  tJiemes. 
And  herein,  we  think,  will  be  found  a  chief  rea- 
son of  its  lack  of  both  i)0})ular  interest  and 
moral  power.  Our  actual  i)reaching  presents 
two  extremes  in  this  respect,  the  Emngelii<tlc 
and  the  Rationalistic;  and,  as  usual,  llic 
right  couive  will  be  fi>und  about  midway 
between  them. 


/ 

liEQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  55 

The  former  incessantly  repeats  the  great  ele- 
mentary truths  of  inward  religion — repentance, 
faith,  justification,  regeneration,  sanctification, 
&c.  And  these  are,  indeed,  the  real  elements 
of  power  in  Christian  theology — the  most  legi- 
timate themes  of  preaching.  They  should  enter 
directly  or  indirectly  into  all  preaching,  and  the 
desk  where  they  are  not  familiar  subjects  is 
shorn  of  the  distinctive  strength  and  brightness 
of  the  puljjit.  Our  objection,  then,  is  not  to 
tlieir  habitual  reiteration,  but  to  the  want  of  a 
more  sjyecijlc  application  of  the  moral  standard 
which  tliey  imply  to  common  life,  and  to  the 
current  events  and  even  the  puhlic  questions  of 
the  day.  Cannot  this  pure  and  powerful  "evan- 
gelism," now  so  continually  exhibited  in  our 
stricter  pulpits,  and  yet  so  almost  exclusively 
applied  to  the  church  altar  or  the  vestry  meet- 
ing, the  closet  or  the  inward  life  of  the  individ- 
ual,— can  it  not  be  brought  out  more  into  the 
arena  of  ordinary  life,  and  its  sanctifying  power 
be  made  to  reach  all  interests  of  men?  That  is 
the  question. 

And  that  is  the  grandest  question  that  we 
think  can  be  put  to  the  Christian  world  in  this 
day.  Most  certainly  the  metaphysical,  the 
dogmatical,  and  (if  we  may  use  the  word)  the 


56  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

strategetical  managements,  heretofore  not  un- 
common to  the  Church,  are  soon  to  be  obsolete. 
Their  day  is  fast  departing,  and  all  good  men 
should  pray  God  to  speed  it.  Evangelism,  as 
contrasted  witli  "Ecclesiasticism,"is  hereafter  to 
be  the  true  form  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth,  as  it  was  during  the  iii'st  centmy  and  a 
♦■half.  Tlie  pulpit  should  be  aware  of  the  fact, 
and  hail  it  with  welcomes.  While  by  the  appli- 
cation of  the  great  vital  truths  above  mentioned, 
it  aims  at  the  cure  of  the  individual  soul  us  its 
immediate  end,  it  should  also  demand  a  still 
larger  sway  for  them;  it  should  insist  that  they 
are  applicable  to  all  the  external  life  of  the 
times,  as  well  as  to  the  "  interior  life"  of  individ- 
ual Christians — are  the  tests  of  all  moral  (juos- 
tions,  public  as  well  as  private — that,  in  fine, 
the  essential  "spirituality"  of  the  Christian 
religion  is  its  only  law  for  all  human  conduct. 

Is  it  not  the  capital  defect  of  the  Churcli  of 
our  times,  that  it  admits,  tacitly  at  least,  a  dis- 
tinction between  its  ethics  and  its  spiritual  life, 
— contracting  the  latter  (with  iho  idea  that  it  is 
"enshrining"  it)  to  its  own  altar,  or  to  })rivate 
life,  and  seeming  to  allow  the  former  to  be 
alone  applicable  to  the  exterior  or  common  life. 
And  is  not  this  the  reason  that  saintship — not 


KEQTJIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  57 

obscure  at  our  altars  or  in  our  vestries — is  so 
unclistinguisliable  in  the  mart,  or  on  'change,  or 
even  in  ordinary  social  life  ? 

This  defect  comes  of  our  defective  preaching. 
Our  more  evangelic  pulpit  is  forever  reiterating 
the  elementary  truths  referred  to, — it  defines 
them,  and  urges  them  ;  but  fails  in  the  largeness 
of  their  application.  Religion,  primarily  a  per- 
sonal matter,  becomes  exclusively  so.  Tlie  re- 
ligious life  of  the  individual  is  defined  ofif  into  a 
sanctification  that  pertains  too  much  to  the  Sun- 
day pew,  or  the  vestry  meeting,  the  closet,  or 
even  the  moral  pathology  of  his  secret  emotions. 

And  hence  it  is  that  our  congregations  sleep 
so  soundly  under  what  is  called  orthodox  preach- 
ing. They  know,  when  the  subject  is  an- 
nounced, what  the  tenor  of  the  discourse  will 
be ;  its  spiritualizations  or  etherializations  have 
become  common-places  to  most  of  them. 

And  lience,  also,  is  it,  that  the  preaching  of 
these  high  and  holy  truths  have  so  little  prac- 
tical effect  beyond  the  mere  personal  limits 
described.  Men  believed  to  be  sincerely  devot- 
ed to  their  "Church  and  closet  duties"  mingle 
almost  undistinguishably  with  the  godless  mul- 
titude in  those  habits  of  business,  those  strata- 
gems (not  to  use  a  worse  word)  of  political  party. 


58  KSSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

and  customs  of  social  life,  whicli  these  great 
trutlis,  rif(litly  applied,  would  annihilate. 

And  hence,  also,  comes  tliat  astonishing 
anomaly,  tliat,  during  periods  wlien  these  vital 
truths  have  been  thoroughly  exhibited,  in  tlieir 
mere  personal  applications,  great  public  evils, 
no  more  reconcilable  with  them  than  light  with 
darkness — such  as  war,  intemperance,  the  slave- 
trade — have  nevertheless  prevailed,  and  been 
scarcely  questioned.  But  when  we  drag  such 
evils  forth  into  the  light  of  our  Christian  altars, 
how  do  they  start  up  into  gigantic  apparitions 
of  immorality,  to  be  denounced  and  thundered 
down  by  the  oracles  of  our  God  ? 

Let  then  the  "  evangelical "  pvdpit  ever  hold 
up,  with  a  high  and  energetic  hand,  these  great 
lights  of  truth  ;  but  not  to  shed  their  quickening 
illumination  merely  within  the  surrounding  altar 
or  the  individual  soul,  but  out,  far  out  iqion  all 
life.  Let  it  afhrm  that  "holiness  to  the  Lord" 
is  the  only  morality  it  recognizes,  because  the 
onlv  morality  promulgated  from  the  Ituler 
of  the  universe;  that  "holiness  to  the  Lord" 
is  not  an  admonition  merely  i'^n-  the  altar 
or  the  closet,  but  for  the  place  of  business,  the 
])olitical  canvass,  the  puldic  oflice,  the  social 
conijiany,   the   deck   of  commerce,   and   (if  so 


/ 

EEQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  59 

startling  a  thought  is  admissible)  the  field  of 
battle — for  if  men  cannot  be  holy  in  fighting 
they  ought  not  to  fight.  Let  it  apply  its  "  evan- 
gelism" to  these  and  other  practical  topics — 
what  then  would  be  its  moral  power?  What 
then  the  variety  and  freshness  of  its  themes,  and 
the  interest  with  which  the  now  sleeping  multi- 
tudes would  look  for  its  discussions  ? 

What  may  be  called  the  RationalistiG  ^pulpit 
among  us,  errs  in  the  opposite  extreme.  In  its 
fear  of  being  too  theological  it  has  become 
almost  purely  didactic.  It  delights  in  ethical 
and  often  in  even  esthetical  themes.  We  give 
it  credit  for  many  accomplishments ;  it  is  pol- 
ished and  scholarly,  and  of  a  very  beneficent 
tone,  and  hitherto  of  remarkably  unsullied 
moral  character ;  but  wliat  is  its  moral  power, 
especially  over  the  masses  ?  And  can  we  even 
conceive  of  its  ever  wielding  a  moral  power 
which  can  reach  the  great  stout  heart  of  our 
common  depraved  humanity  or  startle  the  com- 
mon conscience  ?  By  its  Rationalistic  views  of 
divine  retribution,  it  has  abandoned  the  power 
"  to  persuade  men"  by  "the  terrors  of  the  Lord;" 
and  by  divesting  Christ  and  his  mission  of  their 
highest  significance,  it  has  lost  the  chief  argu- 
ment of  the  "  goodness  of  God,"  which  "  should 


/ 

60  ESSAYS     ON     TlIK     PltEACHING 

lead  men  to  repentance."  It  has  broken  away, 
very  happily,  from  the  old  homiletic  technicali- 
ties of  the  sermon ;  but  its  prelections  have  gen- 
erally become  mere  "  essays  "  on  the  moralities 
of  life.  Some  of  them  are  commendably,  some 
even  heroically  bold  in  their  application  of  the 
Christian  ethics  to  public  questions ;  but  the 
great  elements  of  life  and  power  in  Christianity 
are  wanting,  and  they  "  fight  as  one  that  beat- 
eth  the  air,"  Channing,  Worcester,  Greenwood, 
Dewey,  Bellows,  Osgood,  Cliapin,  and  their 
associates^  have  given  us  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  also  some  of  the  most  conclusive 
elucidations  of  Christian  morals  ever  written ; 
and  Parker  and  his  class,  with  all  their  heresies, 
wage  heroic  war  against  some  public  vices;  but 
have  they  ever  routed  the  enemy  or  shaken 
one  of  his  positions?  Do  their  llatioiuilistic 
dissertations  ever  break  up  the  great  dcej)  of  the 
hearts  of  hardened  men?  Do  you  ever  hear 
of  even  an  individual  conscience  powerfully 
awakened  by  them,  of  a  libertine  reclaimed,  of 
an  infidel  blaspliemer  convinced,  and  nuide  to 
smite  upon  his  breast  and  cry  out,  God  be 
merciful  to  me,  a  sinner  ?  It  would,  indeed,  be 
singular  if  these,  or  even  less  direct  means,  did 
not  have  some  moral  effect;  for  a  temperance 


KEQUIRED    BY    THE     TIMES.  61 

speech  may  reclaim  a  drunkard  from  his  one 
bad  habit,  but  do  ever  individual  cases  of  moral 
renovation — of  change  from  vice  or  even  indiffer- 
ence to  profound  penitence  and  to  an  earnest  con- 
secrated life,  occur  under  this  partial  exhibition 
of  the  truth  ?  The  question  is  not  whether  de- 
vout men  coming  under  such  a  ministration 
through  accident,  speculative  error,  or  other- 
wise, may  not  continue  devout,  that  is  not  a 
relevant  point  here,  but  is  it  a  ministration  of 
'^Ivation,"  of  moral  recovery  to  the  lost,  even 
in  individual  cases  ?  And  as  to  its  public  influ- 
ence, was  there  ever  a  case  known  in  which  the 
attention  of  a  vicious  or  heedless  community 
was  powerfully  arrested  and  impressed  by  it, 
as  has  been  the  fact  not  merely  under  the 
ministry  of  great  leaders  of  the  Evangelical 
school — '"Wesley,  Whitefield,  Edwards,  and  Da- 
vies — 'but  is  commonly  the  case  in  most  towns 
and  villages  in  which  are  found  Evangelical 
Churches",  however  humble  ?  Can  it  be  said  of 
its  "  Rationalistic  "  prelections,  without  a  feel- 
ing of  the  almost  ludicrous  inaptness  of  the 
language,  that  they  are  "  in  demonstration  of 
the  Spirit  and  of  power,"  that  they  are  that 
"  word  of  God  "  which  "  is  quick  and  powerful, 
and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing 


62  ESSAYS     ON     TUE    PKEAOllING 

even  to  tlie  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit, 
and  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner 
of  the  tlioughts  and  intents  of  the  heart?"  And 
can  any  thoughtful  man  suppose,  for  a  mo- 
ment, that  such  a  ministration  of  Christianity 
is  the  one  ordained  from  Heaven  to  beat  back 
and  finally  overthrow  the  terrible  energies  of 
moral  evil  in  our  world? 

No,  no ;  it  has  some  of  the  appliances  of  the 
truth,  but  not  their  central  energy.  "  God  in 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself '^s 
the  fact  in  which  inheres  that  central  energy. 
It  is  not  a  mere  sentiment  of  "  evangelistic"  fer- 
vor, but  the  highest  dictate  of  a  right  "  ration- 
alism" that  subordinates  all  the  ethical  claims 
of  Christianity  to  a  personal  and  renovating 
faith  in  Christ  himself,  uniting  the  soul  to  him 
as  tlie  ingrafted  brancli  to  the  vine  ;  loving  him 
because  he  first  loved  us ;  receiving  his  ador- 
able name  with  those  of  the  Fatlicr  and  the 
Spirit  in  baptism  ;  meeting  him  in  our  Chris- 
tian assemblies  of  even  "  two  or  three ;"  pray- 
ing to  him  as  did  the  dying  Stephen  ;  ''  wor- 
shiping him"  with  "all  the  angels"  who  them- 
selves were  made  by  him ;  trusting  in  liim  as 
"  our  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctifica- 
tion,  and  redemption,"  and  refusing  every  other 


KEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  63 

name  given  among  men  as  the  title  of  salvation, 
Christ,  the  creator,  by  whom  "  all  things  were 
made,"  and  yet  the  snfferer  who  "bore  our 
sins," — the  great  teacher,  but  the  greater  re- 
deemer — Christ  in  Gethsemane  and  in  the  high- 
est heaven — Christ  on  the  cross  and  on  the 
throne  of  the  universe — Christ  paramoimt  over 
all  things  in  heaven  or  earth,  to  the  trusting  and 
adoring  affection  of  the  renewed  heart — this  is 
the  foundation  and  the  culmination  of  all  Chris- 
tian truth.  "What  is  Christianity  without  him 
but  a  mockery?  A  mockery  of  our  weakness 
and  despair  would  it  be,  indeed,  were  it  not  for 
this  its  characteristic  doctrine,  with  its  accom- 
panying supernaturalism  of  faith  and  grace  ;  for 
in  that  case  the  very  purity  of  its  ethical  system 
would  become  its  most  formidable  difficulty. 
Of  the  mere  morals  of  Christianity  can  be  af- 
firmed, what  cannot  be  said  of  any  heathen  or 
infidel  ethical  system,  that  they  are,  of  them- 
selves, impracticable.  The  sermon  on  the 
mount  is  above  the  capability  of  human  nature 
— it  is  a  mockery,  we  repeat,  of  our  weakness, 
if  those  doctrines  of  grace  which  are  distinctive 
of  the  evangelical  school  and  inseparable  from 
the  Messianic  office,  are  not  recognized  as  its 
essential  conditions.     The   Scripture  sentiment 


64  ESSAYS    ON     THE     rKEACHING 

expresses  a  deep  fact  in  the  pliilosophy  of  our 
spiritual  nature, — "Without  me  ye  can  do 
nothing — I  can  do  all  .tilings  through  Clirist 
which  strengtheneth  me." 

What  then  is  the  true  preaching  of  Christian- 
ity? Kot  that  which  deals  only  in  the  moral 
lessons  of  the  Great  Teacher  on  tlie  one  hand  ; 
nor  that,  on  the  other,  which  treats  forever  of 
the  special  graces  of  the  Spirit,  the  "gifts"  pro- 
cured hy  him  for  men.  Not  that  which  sends 
the  inquirer  with  JSTicodemus  to  Jesus  by  niglit 
to  learn  of  the  inward  regeneration,  and  then 
to  be  scarcely  distinguishable  on  the  morrow 
among  his  unbelieving  associates;  but  that 
which,  sending  him  thither,  sends  liim,  ever 
after,  a  renewed  man.  along  with  the  apostolic 
band,  in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus ;  which  never  for- 
getting Christ  on  Calvary,  forgets  him  not  also- 
on  the  mountain  side,  repealing  traditional  lies 
and  teaching  tlie  lowliest  charities  ;  at  the  wed- 
dino-  of  Cana  consecrating  harmless  festivity ; 
amid  the  people  overwhelming  their  hypocriti- 
cal teachers  with  the  most  terrific  denuncia- 
tion ever  recorded  (Matthew  xxiii ;)  in  the  tem- 
ple, scourge  in  hand,  overturning  the  tables  of 
the  money  changers  ;  in  the  field,  feeding  the 
hungry  multitude,  not  only  with  the  bread  of 


KEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  65 

life,  but  with  "  food  convenient  for  them ;"  on 
the  public  road,  not  fearing,  at  the  fitting  time, 
to  denounce  the  godless  sovereign  of  the  land  in 
terms  even  of  indignant  satire. 

Sucli  was  Christ  as  Teacher  and  Saviour,  and 
such  is  the  true  application  of  Christianity  to 
the  world. 

The  man  whose  ministry  gives  it  such  an  ap- 
plication will  never  lack  hearers :  he  will  be  in- 
teresting ;  he  will  be  powerful ;  he  will  keep 
the  minds  and  consciences  of  men  astir ;  he  will 
have  both  friends  and  enemies  ;  and  both  will 
alike  sustain  in  him  the  consciousness  that  he  is 
not  living  in  vain. 

First,  then,  to  deal  more  with  current  interests 
and  questions  in  the  pulpit;  and,  secondly,  to 
apply  to  them  not  merely  the  didactics^  hut  the 
highest  forms  of  evangelical  truths  are  what  the 
preaching  of  our  day  needs,  to  give  it  at  once 
popular  interest  and  power. 

"We  do  not  say  that  this  is  not  done  in  in- 
stances— as  in  the  case  of  Chalmers,  who  ap- 
plied his  noble  evangelism  not  only  to  "  mer- 
cantile life,"  but  to  science  itself,  as  in  his 
Astronomical  Discourses — but  we  do  say,  that 
it  is  not  generally  characteristic  of  our  modern 
preaching.     And  the  pulj^it  has  not  only  tech- 


66  ESSAYS    ON    TUE    PREACHING 

nicalized  its  discourses  into  dry  homiletic  forms, 
but  also  to  a  gi'eat  extent  circumscribed  itself 
within  a  professional  area  of  thought,  into  which 
the  people  venture  once  a  week  with,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  less  interest  than  they  have  for  any 
other  discussions,  or  any  other  j^ublic  as- 
semblies. 

But  would  such  latitude  be  allowed  the  pul- 
pit ?  Most  certainly  it  would,  and  it  would  se- 
cure it  indefinitely  more  respect,  as  well  as  more 
interest  and  power.  We  believe  the  restrictions 
on  the  pulpit  are  mostly  self-imjDOsed ;  it  has 
but  to  lay  them  aside  to  find  the  people  speedily 
recognizing  its  right  to  discuss  all  subjects  to 
which  Christian  truth  has  any  relations.  It 
would  be  subject  to  animadversions,  to  be  sure, 
and  so  is  the  press  ;  it  woidd  produce  agitations, 
but  these  even  it  ought,  to  a  certain  extent,  to 
covet,  as  its  right  and  advantage  ;  yet  very  soon 
would  its  appropriate  freedom  be  conceded,  and 
the  people,  instead  of  resorting  to  it  to  slumber 
over  moral  common-places,  or  spiritual  generali- 
ties, would  crowd  to  it  with  all  their  varieties  of 
opinion,  to  hear  with  respect,  if  not  with  full 
concession,  the  matured  opinions  of  the  men 
whom  they  sustain  for  the  pm-pose  of  the  more 
thorough    study    of  truth,    and   who,    by   their 


KEQUIKED    BY    TILE    TIMES.  67 

professional  isolation  and  sacred  character,  are 
placed  beyond  the  sordid  personal  motives 
which  aftect  its  discussion  in  secular  life.  More 
freedom,  we  were  about  to  say  more  frankness, 
on  the  part  of  the  clergy  would,  we  believe,  be 
quickly  undei*stood  and  approved  by  the  popu- 
lar mind,  especially  in  this  country.  We  are 
not  without  individual  proofs  of  the  fact :  where 
is  tliere  a  man  of  true  earnestness,  who  has 
taken  the  stand  we  have  recommended,  and  who 
has  not  gained  by  it — gained  in  the  number  of 
his  hearers,  and  the  whole  effectiveness  of  his 
ministrations  ? 

Of  course  we  presuppose  here  all  those  counsels 
respecting  "good sense,"  "moderation,"  "  discre- 
tion," &c., — the  convenient  common-places  of 
"  a  wise  conservatism," — with  which  a  certain 
class  of  minds  would  have  us  round-off  a  dis- 
cussion like  the  present.  Unfortunately  the 
danger  seldom  lies  in  the  direction  suspected  by 
such  caution-mongers,  for  most  of  the  personal 
interests  of  the  preacher  will  incline  him  other- 
wise. His  office,  too,  and  j^  professional  tastes, 
are  well  adapted  to  produce  habits  of  considera- 
tion and  prudence,  and  the  man  who  is  not- 
qualified  to  use  in  the  pulpit  aright  the  freedom 
we  have  recommended,  has  no  right  to  be  there. 


68  ESSAYS     OX     THE    PBEACHIXG 

TVe  have  been  the  more  emphatic  in  urging 
these  view3  upon  the  "Evangelical  ministry," 
so  called,  because  it  is  unquestionably  the  policy 
of  the  Rationalism  and  Infidelity  of  the  day  to 
place  themselves  in  contrast  with  the  Church  in 
these  respects.  They  are  attempting  to  signal- 
ize themselves  as  the  pra^jtical  reforrners  of  the 
times,  not  merely  in  matters  which  are  yet  in 
public  controversy,  but  in  admitted  charities 
and  reforms.  A  sentimental  philanthropy  is 
the  very  characteristic  of  modem  infidelity ; 
and  let  tis  have  the  honesty  to  sav  that,  with 
many  doubters,  it  is  not  a  merely  sentimental,  but 
an  earnest,  working  philanthropy.  The  Church 
and  its  ministry  are  incessantly  assailed  by 
scomers,  and  sometimes  by  honest  but  erring 
men,  as  responsible  for  the  great  grievances 
which  yet  afflict  Christendom,  and  schemes 
amounting  to  a  conspiracy  for  its  overthrow  are 
prosecuted  as  necessarily  preliminary  to  their 
reform.  All  this  may  be  called  preposterous, 
to  be  sure  ;  but  it  is  not  without  its  diastrous 
influence  on  innun|erable  minds  among  the 
young  and  ingenuous,  as  well  as  the  decrepit  in 
error  and  vice.  TVe  are  4i*posed  to  think  that 
it  is  among  the  most  melancholy  signs  of  the 
times.     And  these  complaints  extend  not  only 


KEQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  69 

to  pnbKc  questions,  but  to  the  common  immo- 
ralities and  common  evils  of  the  Christian  world. 
The  Church  is  held  responsible  for  them  ;  she  is 
challenged  to  purify  the  business,  to  remedy  the 
pauperism,  to  educate  the  ignorance,  to  repress 
the  prostitution,  to  expurgate  the  jurisprudence, 
and  reform  the  politics  of  Christian  lands. 
The  challenge,  \nth  some  qualifications,  is  a 
most  rightfol  one.  The  Church  cannot  evade 
it ;  her  moral  power  does  not  reach  those  evils 
as  it  should;  the  pseudo-philanthropy  of  her 
opponents  cannot  reach  them  at  all,  except  to 
exasperate  them  by  absurd  experiments ;  the 
task  is  with  the  Church — ^let  her  accept  the 
challenge,  and  the  hour  as  the  propitious  occa- 
sion in  which  to  show  her  "power  unto  salva- 
tion." Let  her  watchmen,  especially,  see  if 
they  cannot  more  efiectually  silence  these 
clamors ;  if  there  is  not  more  for  them  to  do 
than  they  are  doing,  and  a  better  way  to  do  it. 


70  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 


ESSAY    IV. 

INEFFICIENCY  OF  THE  PULPIT  — A  PLEA  FOR  EXTEMPORA- 
NEOUS PREACHING. 

Reading  not  Preaching  —  Opinions  in  Favor  of  Extemporaneous 
Preaching  —  Its  Compatibility  with  a  Good  Style  and  Close 
Thinking — Chalmers  —  European  Example  —  The  Classic  Ora- 
tors "  Exteraporizers" —  The  Anglo-Saxon  Pulpit  alone  substitutes 
Reading  for  Preaching — PvCading  not  tolerated  in  Senatorial  or 
Foren^c  Oratory — Webster  —  Disadvantages  of  Sermon  Writing 
to  Clergymen  —  Defects  of  our  Ministerial  Training — The  Ap- 
propriate Studies  of  an  Orator  —  Cicero  —  Romilly — Thomas 
Scott  —  Dr.  Arnold  —  A  better  Selection  of  Ministerial  Candi- 
dates Necessary. 

We  liave  l)een  endeavoring  to  account  for  the 
comparatively  slight  moral  power  and  popular 
interest  of  modern  preaching.  Few  things,  we 
believe,  detract  more  from  the  pulpit,  in  these 
respects,  than  the  almost  general  substitution  of 
reading  for  'preaching^  for  they  are  not  identical, 
any  more  than  the  lettei-s  of  the  one  word  spell 
the  other. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  some  few  years  ago,  recommended  ex- 
temporaneous preaching  by  a  strong  vote — the 
best  writers  on  Ilomiletics  have  contended  for 
it — even  a  Unitarian  theological  professor  (the 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  71 

younger  Ware,  of  Harvard,)  has  written  an  en- 
tire book,  and  the  best  one  we  have,  on  the 
subject ;  the  most  successful  ministrj  of  our 
land  has  been  almost  exclusively  made  up  of 
extemporizers ;  the  arguments  and  authorities 
for  it  are,  in  fine,  altogether  preponderating, 
and  yet  how  predominant  is  the  clerical  pro- 
clivity for  manuscripts!  Even  tlie  Methodist 
ministry,  whose  fathers  filled  the  land  with  the 
thunders  and  triumphs  of  their  powerful  and 
natural  eloquence,  are  beginning  to  ape  the 
primness  of  academic  readers,  to  turn  their  once 
resounding  pulpit  batteries  into  "desks"  for 
manuscript  prelections.  Alas  !  who  would  have 
supposed  it  of  them,  f — among  whom  it  must  be 
like  the  reed  of  the  shepherd  boy,  on  the  moun- 
tain road,  after  the  trumpet-blast  of  the  career- 
ing herald,  while  yet  the  lingering  echoes  ring 
among  the  crags  and  heights. 

]S^ot  only  is  extemporaneous  preaching  adapt- 
ed to  the  themes  and  the  effectiveness  which 
we  have  demanded  for  the  pulpit,  but  we 
contend  that  it  is  consistent  with  the  best 
style  of  public  discourse,  with  just  thought 
and  a  sufficiently  accurate  verbal  style.  These 
latter  excellences,  of  course,  depend  largely 
upon  previous  training,  and  the  preparation  of 


/ 

72  K?;>iAV    ox    THE     pkkaciiing 

the  discourse  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  also, 
that  this  is  the  case  in  regard  to  written  ser- 
mons,— a  speaker,  without  previous  education, 
and  thorough  study  of  tlie  discourse  in  hand, 
would  hardly  succeed  better  in  reciting  it,  than 
in  delivering  it  extempore. 

He  that  would  be  a  successful  extemporizer 
should  have  a  well-stored  mind,  and  should 
thoroughly  meditate  his  subjects;  so  thoroughly, 
indeed,  that  the  whole  perspective  of  the  main 
ideas  of  his  discoui*se,  from  the  exordium  to  the 
peroration,  shall  be  clearly  open  before  his 
mental  vision  when  he  rises  in  the  pulpit. 
This  is  requisite,  for  two  reasons  :  first,  that  he 
may  have  something  to  say ;  and  secondly,  that 
he  may  have  the  coniidence  which  will  enabl# 
him  to  say  it  with  self-possession  and  force. 
Self-possession,  Ijased  upon  a  sufficient  preparor 
tion,  is  the  whole  seci'et  of  success  in  extempora- 
neous speaking.  A  speaker  thus  sustained  can 
hardly  fail  to  have,  spontaneously,  the  right 
language  and  due  emotion  ;  he  has  incompara- 
bly more  facilities  for  them  than  tlie  manuscript 
preacher.  We  say  right  language ;  and  that  is 
right  which  is  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  It 
may  not  be  as  precise  as  tlie  pen  would  afibrd, 
but  ought  it  ahvays  to  be  so?     AVould  it  bo  de- 


REQUIRED     BY    THE     TIMES.  73 

sirable,  that  tlie  free,  irregular  but  idiomatic 
facility  of  ordinary  conversation  should  be  su- 
perseded, at  our  heartlis,  by  the  finical  precision 
and  literary  nicety  of  book-makers  ?  There  is  a 
style  for  books,  a  style  for  conversation,  and  a 
style  for  the  rostrum  or  the  pulpit.  He  who 
rises  in  the  latter,  with  his  mind  fraught  with 
the  ideas  of  his  subject,  and  his  heart  inspired 
with  its  spirit,  will,  in  most  cases,  spontaneously 
utter  himself  aright.  If  he  is  occasionally 
diffuse  or  re^^etitious,  yet  it  may  be  legitimate 
to  the  occasion  or  the  subject  that  he  should  be 
so.  If  his  style  may  not  read  as  well  as  it  was 
heard,  yet  even  this  may  be  because  of  its  pe- 
culiar adaptation  to  be  heard  rather  than  read.* 

*  The  following  brief,  but  very  significant  letter  from 
Garrick  to  a  tlieological  student  who  had  requested  his 
advice  on  the  subject,  is  a  whole  volume  on  oratory  com- 
pressed into  a  paragraph  : — 

My  Dear  Sik, — You  know  how  you  would  feel  and 
speak  in  the  parlour  to  a  dear  friend  who  was  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  his  life ;  and  with  what  energetic  pathos  of 
diction  and  countenance  you  would  enforce  the  observance 
of  that  which  you  really  thought  would  be  for  his  preser- 
vation. You  would  be  yourself;  and  the  interesting  nature 
of  your  subject  impressing  your  heart,  would  furnish  you 
with  the  most  natural  tone  of  voice,  the  most  proper  lan- 
guage, the  most  engaging  features,  and  the  most  suitable 
and  graceful  gestures.  What  you  would  be  in  the  parlor 
be  in  the  pulpit,  and  you  will  not  fail  to  please,  to  affect,  to 
profit.     Adieu.    .  D.  G-. 


74:  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

We  affirm  further,  that  both  the  design  and 
history  of  preaching  are  in  favor  of  extempora- 
neous delivery.  The  earnestness  and  directness 
for  which  we  have  contended  may  consist,  as 
■\ve  have  shown,  with  all  varieties  of  talents  and 
toj^ics,  but  it  is  hardly  comi^atible  with  pulpit 
reading.  Very  rarely  indeed  does  a  powerful 
reader,  like  Chalmers,  appear  in  the  pulpit. 
Wo  know  not  another  case  like  his  in  the  history 
of  the  Christian  ministry.  Chalmers  tried  the 
experiment  of  extemporizing  in  his  country 
parish,  but  prematurely  abandoned  it ;  yet  when 
in  his  full  fame  at  Glasgow,  his  biographer  says, 
that  his  occasional  extemporaneous  discourses, 
in  the  private  houses  of  his  poor  parishioners, 
teemed  with  more  splendid  eloquence  than 
ever  dazzled  the  crowded  congregation  of  the 
Tron  Kirk. 

The  two  greatest  preachei*s  of  modern  times, 
"Whitefield  and  Robert  Hall,  were  extemporizers 
— their  written  sermons  were  composed  after 
delivery.  Such  a  thing  as  a  manuscript  sermon 
is  never  seen  in  the  pulpits  of  the  continent  of 
Europe,  except  when  American  or  English 
clergymen  happen  to  ascend  them.  If  the 
continental  clergy,  Catholic  or  Protestant,  write 
their   discourses,  they   have,  nevertheless,  the 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  Y5 

good  sense  to  deliver  tliem  inemoviter^  and 
thereby  save  tliem  from  the  dullness  of  reading. 
Li  like  manner  did  the  old  and  unrivaled  pnlpit 
orators  of  France — Massillon,  Bossuet,  Bourda- 
loue,  Fletcher,  Fenelon — eschew  the  manuscript. 
Tlie  latter,  in  his  "  Dialogues  on  Elo- 
quence," contends  for  extemporaneous  speaking. 
He  arffues  that  even  the  classic  orators  were 
mostly  extemporizers.  There  is  much  to  be 
said  on  both  sides  of  this  question ;  the  most 
probable  supposition  is,  that  the  classic  orators 
wrote  their  discourses,  memorizing  their  sub- 
stance, but  delivering  them  without  much  re- 
gard to  the  written  language.  {See  Fenelon^ 
Ware  says,  "  Chatham's  speeches  were  not 
written,  nor  those  of  Fox,  nor  that  of  Ames  on 
the  British  treaty.  They  were,  so  far  as  regards 
their  language  and  ornaments,  the  effusions  of 
the  moment,  and  derived  from  their  freshness  a 
power  which  no  study  could  impart.  Among 
the  orations  of  Cicero  which  are  said  to  have 
made  the  greatest  impression,  and  to  have  best 
accomplished  the  orator's  design,  are  those 
delivered  on  unexpected  emergencies,  which 
precluded  the  possibility  of  previous  prepara- 
tion. Such  were  his  first  invective  agaiiist 
Catiline,  and  the  speech  which  stilled  the  dis- 


76  ESSAYS     ON    THE     PREACHING 

turbances  at  the  tlieater.  It  is  often  said  that 
extemporaneous  speaking  is  the  distinction  of 
modern  eloqnence.  But  the  whole  language  of 
Cicero's  rhetorical  works,  as  well  as  particular 
terms  in  common  use,  and  anecdotes  recorded 
of  different  ^peakei's,  prove  the  contrary;  not  to 
mention  Quinctilian's  express  instructions  on 
the  subject.  Hume,  also,  tells  us  from  Suidas, 
that  the  writing  of  speeches  was  unknown  until 
the  time  of  Pericles." 

Tlie  Anglo-Saxon  pulpit,  against  all  the  pre- 
dilections of  that  race,  is,  in  fine,  the  only  place 
where  reading  is  tolerated  as  a  mode  of  pojiular 
address.  The  member  of  parliament,  or  of  con- 
gress, who  should  attempt  to  read  his  speech, 
would  almost  inevitably  break  down.  The 
advocate  at  the  bar,  contending  for  the  life  of 
his  client,  would  be  considered  recreant  to  all 
the  urgency  of  the  occasion  were  he  to  stand 
up  before  the  jury  to  read  his  plea.  Tlic 
popular  orator  who  should  attempt  to  read  the 
masses  into  enthusiasm,  on  some  high  occasion 
of  national  exigency,  would  be  dubbed  a  jackass, 
Wliy  can  manly  and  powerfid  eloquence  be 
successful  everywhere  else  but  in  the  pulpit? 
The  pulpit  is  its  most  legitimate  arena. 
Tlie   themes   and   aims   of    the   pulpit   are   all 


KEliUIKED     BY     THE     TIMES.  77 

adapted  to  it.  Tlie  religious  congregation  is 
the  true  popular  assembly;  and  there,  if  any- 
where, ought  eloquence  to  appear  in  all  its 
liberties  and  powers. 

So  almost  intuitive  is  our  perception  of  the 
inappropriateness  of  manuscript  preaching  to 
the  popular  religious  assembly,  that  we  cannot 
conceive  of  Christ  reading  his  discourses  to  the 
multitudes  of  Judea ;  or  Peter,  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  or  Paul,  on  Mars'  Hill,  preaching 
from  a  scroll.  We  know  this  could  not  have 
been,  not  from  any  historical  testimony,  but 
from  the  manifest  absurdity  of  the  supposition. 
For  the  same  reason  we  cannot  associate  it 
with  any  really  popular  and  demonstrative 
preaching. 

Be  assured,  that  he  who  can  preach  at  all, 
can  preach  extemporaneously,  if  he  will  but  per- 
severe in  the  experiment.  Tlie  young  man  of 
good  education,  who,  from  his  academic  habits 
or  natural  diffidence,  or  any  other  cause,  is  now 
addicting  himself  to  pulpit  reading,  is  putting 
his  whole  professional  life  under  a  servile 
restraint,  which  will  not  only  consume  unneces- 
sarily large  amounts  of  his  time,  but  trammel 
the  development  of  all  his  pulpit  powers.  Let 
him  study  thoroughly  his  subjects ;  but  let  him 


78  ESSAYS     ON    TIIK     I'llEACIIING 

devote  to  tlie  storing  of  his  mind  the  time  now 
spent  in  mere  verbal  preparation  for  the  desk ; 
let  him  resolutely  stumble  along,  through  what- 
ever embarrassments,  till  he  acquires  the  con- 
fidence which  habit  will  surely  produce ;  let 
him  understand  well  that  what  he  wants  for  the 
j)ulpit  is  thought  and  sentiment,  and  that  these 
secured,  direct  unpretending  utterance,  right 
home  to  the  souls  of  the  people,  is  the  only  true 
style  for  him — the  noblest  eloquence.  If,  in  tlie 
experiment,  he  sometimes  falls  below  the  tame 
mediocrity  of  his  former  manuscript  efforts,  yet 
will  he  oftcner  rise  transcendently  above  it,  in 
the  exulting  freedom  of  an  inspired  and  un- 
ti'ammeled  mind. 

One  fact  let  him  be  assured  of,  namely,  that 
whatever  uniform  and  respectable  character  his 
manuscript  preaching  may  have,  the  maximum 
power  of  preaching  can  never  be  attained  by 
the  sermon  reader.  He  sacrifices  all  hope  of 
this ;  and  no  young  man  should  ever  make  that 
sacrifice.  With  God's  commission  upon  him, 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  within  him,  with  all  the 
assistance  of  books  and  nature  about  him,  with 
the  solemnities  of  eternity  before  liim,  let  him 
throw  himself  with  all  directness  and  energy  into 
his  work,  speaking  to  the  peoj)le  in  their  own 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  19 

strong  and  simple  speech,  seeking  not  to  ape 
the  rhetorician,  but  to  save  souls,  "  pulling  them 
out  of  the  fire ;"  he  will  tlien  speak  from  his 
heart  with  infinitely  more  eloquence  than  he 
could  utter  from  his  manuscript. 

We  are  earnest  but  not  whimsical  on  this  sub- 
ject; there  are  doubtless  occasions  when  a  man- 
uscript may  be  desirable  in  the  pulpit,  but 
they  are  rare — th'ey  should  form  the  exception, 
not  the  rule.  AYhy,  in  the  name  of  all  good 
sense,  should  the  pulpit  alone,  of  all  places  of 
popular  discourse,  be  subjected  to  this  stupid 
inconvenience  ? 

Tlie  primness,  the  cold  hollow  dignity,  so 
contrary  to  all  spontaneous  and  po]3ular-  sym- 
pathy and  hearty  religious  feeling,  which  now 
characterize  the  pulpit,  are,  we  repeat,  attribut- 
able more  to  this  cause  and  to  the  technical 
homiletic  form  of  the  sermon,  than  to  any  other. 
It  is  not  preaching — it  is  an  intolerable  perver- 
sion of  the  idea.  It  is  academic  lecturing.  It 
is'  an  intellectual  task,  a  dry  literary  exhibition 
in  the  wrong  place,  to  wrong  spectators,  and 
performed  in  subjection  to  most  servile  usages 
and  intolerable  mannerisms. 

Clergymen  should  banish  it — thro^v  it  to  the 
winds — not  only  for  the  good  of  the  people,  but 


80  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACUING 

for  their  own  relief."  It  was  unkuown  in  the 
primitive  Chiux'h  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yeai"s ;  it  is  uncommon  if  not  unkuown  now  in 
ministries  which  sway  the  masses,  as  the  Roman 
Cathohc,  the  Baptist,  the  Methodist;  it  is  un- 
known on  ahnost  all  other  occasions  where  a 
practical  end,  and  not  a  mere  literary  exhibition 
is  designed — the  political  assembly,  the  legisla- 
tive hull,  the  court-room.  If  you  W(juld  have 
the  pulpit  invested  with  its  legitimate  freedom 
and  power,  break  down  its  factitious  restraints, 
banish  its  technicalities,  and  cast  away  its 
scrolls.  ]^ay,  if  the  reader  would  not  suppose 
us  too  radical,  we  would  say,  tear  down  the  pul- 
pit itself  "A  lawyer,"  said  Daniel  AVebster, 
"  could  never  hope  to  gain  his  cause  if  he  had 
to  plead  it  boxed  up  in  a  jnilpit."    Jesus  Christ 

*  Ware,  ill  his  preface,  says,  "There  is  at  least  one  con- 
sequence likely  to  result  from  the  study  of  this  art  [extem- 
poraneous jjreaching]  and  the  attempt  to  practice  it,  which 
would  alone  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  urging  it  earnestly. 
I  mean,  its  probable  effect  in  breaking  up  the  constrained, 
formal,  scholastic  mode  of  address,  which  follows  the  stud- 
ent from  his  college  duties,  and  keeps  him  from  inimodiatc 
contact  with  the  hearts  of  his  fellow  men.  This  would  be 
etfectod  by  his  learning  to  speak  from  his  feelings,  rather 
tlian  from  the  critical  rules  of  a  book.  His  address  would 
be  more  natural,  and  consei]uently  bettor  adapted  to  elfert- 
ive  iireaching." 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  81 

and  his  apostles  never  saw  a  pulpit,  unless  the 
reading  platform  of  the  synagogue  could  be 
called  one.  They  never  took  a  text,  tying  their 
thoughts  with  a  thread  of  bare  verbalisms; 
Christ  read  the  Prophet,  and  sat  down  and  talked 
to  the  people.  They  knew  nothing  about  "first- 
ly," "  secondly,"  and  "  thirdly  ;"  they  were  too 
intent  on  their  practical  design  to  trifle  with 
such  dialectic  nonsense.  They  exjyounded.^  to  be 
sure,  but  not  with  these  scholastic  trammels — 
they  talked,  they  exhorted,  they  thundered ; 
and  the  awakened  multitudes,  consenting  or 
scorning,  were  not  concerned  about  hoio  they 
preached,  but  what  they  preached.  The  manner 
could  not  but  be  right,  and  powerfully  right, 
when  spontaneous  to  the  design. 

We  would  have  the  people  come  to  church, 
then,  not  expecting  to  hear,  or  rather  sleep, 
under  these  intellectual  prelections,  but  to  hear 
fervent,  practical,  home-directed  addresses  res- 
pecting their  duties ;  expositions,  arguments, 
warnings,  exliortations,  applied  to  their  common 
wants,  to  current  events;  to  the  individual,  to 
the  community,  to  the  times :  addresses,  thought- 
ful but  not  technical ;  too  direct  and  urgent  for 
factitious  mannerisms  ;  delivered,  if  you  please, 

sometimes  from  the  pulpit,  and  sometimes,  as 
6 


82  ESSAYS    ON     THE     PREACHING 

■\vitli  the  Papal  priests,  from  the  altar,  down  be- 
fore tlie  people ;  sometimes  from  a  text,  some- 
times from  the  whole  lesson,  sometimes  without 
reference  to  either;  now  on  an  abstract  subject, 
now  on  a  personal  one,  and  now  on  a  public 
question;  urging  men  to  their  personal  salva- 
tion, and  meanwhile,  and  for  this  purpose,  refut- 
ing all  sanctioned  lies,  assailing  all  the  connip- 
tions of  the  day,  whether  in  high  places  or  in  low 
places,  and  pleading  all  genuine  reforms. 

Amazing  radicalism  this  !  Yes,  but  just  such, 
both  in  spirit  and  method,  as  that  before  which 
the  priesthoods,  the  philosophical  schools,  the 
senates,  and  the  thrones  of  the  old  classic  hea- 
thenism fell.  Such  a  restoration  of  primitive 
preaching  would  again  "turn  the  world  upside 
down,"  till  it  turned  it  right  side  up. 

"We  believe  further,  that  the  ministerial  edu- 
cation^ or  rather  miseducation  of  the  times,  with 
the  professional  habits  it  entails,  is  a  reason  of 
the  comparative  inefficiency  of  the  pulpit.  Our 
clerical  education  is  tot^  Procrustean — it  turns 
out  too  many  poor  results ;  so  numy,  that  a 
shrewd  observer  cannot  but  refer  them  to  the 
defectiveness  of  the  system  as  such.  Tliought- 
ful  men,  in  the  best-educated  sects,  begin  to  hes- 
itate about  theological  schools ;  and  we  know 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  83 

learned  graduates  of  such  schools,  now  leaders 
in  the  ministry,  who  feel  almost  disposed,  at 
times,  to  wish  our  theological  seminaries  dis- 
banded. This  is  not  the  place  for  a  close  dis- 
cussion of  the  question  of  theological  education ; 
but  we  would  refer  with  emphasis  to  the  neces- 
sity of  a  revision  of  the  whole  subject.  Our 
candidates  are  drawn  through  a  scholastic  pro- 
cess— prolonged  elementary  studies,  one  or  two 
years  of  preparation  for  college,  four  years  in 
college,  and  three  years  under  the  rigors  of 
technical  divinity  in  the  theological  school ;  a 
process,  from  out  of  which  they  come  intellec- 
tually attenuated,  and  rigid  beyond  recovery. 
And  then  bear  in  mind  what  follows,  on  the 
present  plan  of  manuscript  'heading  instead  of 
preaching.  On  graduating  at  last,  they  must 
betake  themselves  to  sermon  toriting ;  two  ser- 
mons a  week  at  least,  on  the  plan  of  the  mon- 
strous text-books  we  have  denounced  two 
weekly  homiletic  agonies  in  constructing  "first- 
lies,"  "secondlies,"  and  "thirdhes,"  out  of 
what  common  sense  remains  within  them,  and 
'out  of  the  beautiful,  simple  sentences  of  Holy 
Scripture !  How  is  it  possible  that  men  sub- 
jected to  such  professional  rigors  should  not  be- 
come professionally  characterized  and  isolated ! 


84  ESBAVS     ON     THE    PREACHING 

"What  time  have  tliey  for  those  general  studies 
— those  "  Humanities,"  as  they  were  once  called 
— which  the  best  critics  have  pronounced  ne- 
cessary to  the  orator?  Clergymen,  perhaps 
more  than  any  other  professional  class,  need 
such  studies,  both  for  their  mental  health  and 
their  popular  usefulness ;  but  we  are  inclined  to 
think  have  least  opportunity  for  them.  * 

The  present  topic  is  very  intimately  related  to 
the  preceding  one ;  for  not  only  is  sermon  read- 
i7ig  bad  in  itself — the  gi'eatest  detraction  from 
the  popular  effect  of  preaching — but  it  is  doubly 
an  evil,  as  it  requires  sermon  loritlnfj,  and  tlius 
consumes,  in  the  mere  task  of  verbal  prepara- 
tion, the  time  that  should  be  spent  in  various 
readinjir  and  thinking:.  "Tlie  minister,"  savs 
Ware,  "  must  keep  himself  occupied, — reading,, 
thinking,  investigating;  thus  having  his  mind 
always  awake  and  active.  This  is  a  far  better 
preparation  than  the  bare  writing  of  sermons, 
for  it  exercises  the  powers  more,  and  keeps 
them  bright.  The  great  master  of  Roman  elo- 
quence thought  it  essential  to  the  true  orator, 
that  he  should  be  familiar  with  all  sciences,  and 
have  his  mind  filled  witli  every  variety  of 
knowledge.  lie,  therefore,  much  as  he  studied 
his  favorite  art,  yet  occupied  more  time  in  liter- 


REQUIRED     BY    THE    TIMES.  bO 

ature,    pliilosopliy,   and   politics,    than    in    the 
composition  of  his  speeches.     His  preparation 
was  less  particular  than  general.     So   it  has 
been  with  other  eminent  speakers.     When  Sir 
Samuel  Romily  was  in  full  practice  in  the  High 
Court  of  Chancery,  and  at  the  same  time  over- 
whelmed with  the  pressure  of  public  political 
concerns,  his  custom  was  to  enter  the  court,  to 
receive  there  the  history  of  the  cause  he  was  to 
plead,   thus  to  accpiaint  himself  with  the  cir- 
cumstances for  the  first  time,  and  forthwith  pro- 
ceed  to    argue    it.      His    general   preparation 
and  long  practice  enabled  him  to  do  this,  with- 
out failing  in  justice  to  his  cause.     I  do  not 
know  that  in  this  he  was  singular.     The  same 
sort  of  preparation  would  insure  success  in  the 
pulpit.     He  who  is  always  thinking,  may  ex- 
pend upon  each  individual  eflort  less  time,  be- 
cause he  can  think  at  once  fast  and  well.     But 
he  who   never  thinks,    except  when   attempt- 
ing to  manufacture  a  sermon,  (and  it  is  to  be 
feared  there  are  such  men,)  must  devote  a  great 
deal  of  time  to  this  labor  exclusively;  and  after 
all,  he  will  not  have  that  wide  range  of  thought 
or  copiousness  of  illustration,  which  his  office 
demands  and  which  study  only  can  give.     In 
fact,  what  I  have  here  insisted  upon,  is  exem- 


86  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACIIIXG 

plilied  iu  tlie  case  of  the  extemporaneous 
writers  whom  I  have  ah'eady  named.  I  woukl 
only  carry  their  practice  a  step  further,  and  de- 
vote an  hour  to  a  discourse  instead  of  a  day. 
Not  to  all  discoui-ses :  for  some  ought  to  be 
written  for  the  sake  of  writing;  and  some  de- 
mand a  sort  of  investigation,  to  wliich  the  use 
of  the  pen  is  essential.  But  then  a  very  'large 
proportion  of  the  topics  on  which  a  minister 
should  preacli  liave  been  subjects  of  his  atten- 
tion a  thousand  times.  lie  is  thoroughly  famil- 
iar with  them;  and  an  hour  to  arrange  his  ideas 
and  collect  illustrations  is  abundantly  sufficient. 
The  late  Thomas  Scott  is  said  for  years  to  have 
prepared  his  discourses  entirely  by  meditation 
on  the  Sunday,  and  thus  to  have  gained  leisure 
for  his  extensive  studies,  and  great  and  various 
labors.  Tliis  is  an  extreme  on  whicli  few  have 
a  right  to  venture,  and  wliich  should  be  recom- 
mended to  none.  It  shows,  however,  the  power 
of  habit,  and  the  ability  of  a  mind  kept  upon 
the  alert  by  constant  occupation  to  act  promptly 
and  effectually.  He  who  is  always  engaged  iu 
thinking  and  studying  will  always  have  thouglits 
enough  for  a  sermon,  and  good  ones  too,  which 
will  come  at  an  hour's  warning."  AYe  dill'er 
from  Ware  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  j»repa- 


REQUIRED    BY    THE     TIMES.  87 

ration  necessary,  but  we  approve  liis  general 
view  of  the  subject. 

"A  clergyman,"  says  the  good  and  great  Dr. 
Arnold,  himself  a  noble  example  of  what  he 
taught,  "requires,  first,  the  general  cultivation 
of  his  mind,  by  reading  the  works  of  the  great- 
est writers,  philosophers,  orators,  and  poets ; 
and,  next,  an  understanding  of  the  actual  state 
of  society,  and  of  our  own  and  general  history, 
as  affecting  and  explaining  the  existing  differ- 
ences among  us,  both  social  and  religious."  "It 
is  for  this  reason,"  adds  one  of  his  reviewers, 
"  that  so  few  eminent  critics  are  eminent 
preachers :  criticism,  to  he  eminent,  requires  a 
man  to  be  exclusive  and  jealous  in  his  devotion  to 
it,  and  he  cannot  find  time  for  wide  and  general 
reading.  But  miscellaneous  knowledge  is  pre- 
cisely what  the  preacher  needs,  not  to  criticise 
the  sacred  word,  but  to  apply  it  to  the  circum- 
stances of  his  age  and  to  the  hearts  and  habits 
of  the  living  men  and  women  in  the  congrega- 
tion before  him.  Tlie  preacher,  as  such,  can 
commit  no  more  fatal  mistake  than  to  confine 
himself  exclusively,  or  chiefl}' ,  to  the  reading  of 
books  of  divinity.  Such  exclusive  reading  will 
inevitably  narrow  his  mind  and  give  it  a  sort  of. 
professional  one-sidedness,  that  will  show  itself 


88  ESSAYS     ON    THE    PREACHING 

not  merely  in  his  mode  of  thinking,  but  in  his 
style  of  writing  and  speaking."* 

We  have  at  times  heard  some  of  our  Method- 
ist ministerial  brethren  complain  of  their  "  sys- 
tem," because,  as  they  have  thought,  it  inter- 
fered with  homiletic  study,  by  tempting  the 
"itinerant"  to  content  himself  with  a  few  "skel- 
etons," whereas,  were  he  stationary,  he  would 
have  to  make  more.  A  most  illogical  inference, 
it  seems  to  us.  It  is  not  the  preparation  or 
study  of  "  skeletons  "  that  the  pulpit  of  this  day 
needs ;  the  want  is  more  extensive  cultilre,  more 
varied  capacity.  Any  "  system  "  that  relieves 
the  preachei-s  from  technical  preparations,  and 
thereby  allows  him  more  time  for  general  intel- 
lectual invigoration  and  varied  study,  is  a  bless- 
ing :  the  relief  may  be  abused,  to  be  sure,  through 
mere  indolence  ;  but  for  that  the  individual,  not 
the  system,  is  responsible. 

We  dismiss  the  present  part  of  our  subject 
with  one  more  remark,  and  a  brief  one.  Tlie 
Churches,  especially  of  this  country,  if  they 
would  promote  the  efiectiveness  of  the  pulpit, 
must  have  more  care  in  the  selection  of  yoyn,j 
men  for  the  ministry^  a  suggestion  which  we  sub- 
mit to  those  very  excellent,  but,  avc  fear,  much 
*  Rev.  Dr.  M'Clintock. 


REQUIRED     BY    THE    TIMES.  89 

abused  "Education  Societies,"  wliicli  are  de- 
signed to  aid  young  men  tlirougli  their  minis- 
terial training.  Tlie  ministry  not  only  affords 
the  best  opportunities  for  the  best  talent,  but  it 
involves  some  of  the  most  critical  trials  that 
human  responsibility  knows.  It  is  a  sad  inflic- 
tion both  on  the  Church  and  on  the  incompetent 
candidate  himself,  to  thrust  him  into  its  formid- 
able duties.  Tliere  are  now  literally  hundreds,  if 
not  thousands,  of  unemployed  clergymen  abroad 
in  our  country,  while,  at  the  same  time,  there 
is  an  equal  number  of  unsupplied  Churches. 
And  such  is  the  effect  of  the  professional  train- 
ing we  have  mentioned,  that  a  man  once  educa- 
ted for  the  pulpit  is  scarcely  fitted  for  any  other 
vocation,  except  it  may  be  that  of  teaching ;  if 
left  without  a  call  he  must,  therefore,  suffer. 
Piety,  in  a  young  man,  is  too  often  taken  as  a 
guarantee  of  every  other  future  requisite  for  the 
office ;  and  it  is  melancholy  to  see  with  what 
eagerness  devout  mediocrity,  if  not  inferiority, 
is  pressed  into  this  highest,  most  laborious,  most 
awful  sphere  of  human  responsibility. 


90  ESSAYS    ON  THE     PKEACIIINQ 


ESSAY  Y. 

FUETHER  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  EXTEMPORANEOUS 
PKEACHIXG— RULES  FOR  IT. 

Examples  of  Extemporaneous  Eloquence  —  Definition  of  Eloquence 
—  Design  of  "Notes"  —  Design  of  Preaching  —  Diffidence  —  Its 
Advantages  —  Hriefs  in  the  Pulpit  —  Preventives  of'  Embarrass- 
ment—  Preaching  memoriter  —  Selection  and  Arrangement  of 
Subjects — Their  Elaboration  —  Four  Rules  for  Extemporizing. 

There  are  occasions  on  which  sermons  written 
out  and  read,  or  delivered  meinoriter,  may  be 
admif^sible ;  but  they  are  few,  and  the  speaker 
ouglit  always  to  be  commiserated  for  the  incon- 
venience of  a  task  so  irksome  and  so  incompa- 
tible with  that  spontaneous  play  of  thought  and 
emotion  which  is  absolutely  necessary  to  true 
eloquence.  Though  admissible,  we  would  not 
say  this  course  is  necessary,  even  on  sucli  occa- 
sions. The  most  important  efforts  of  oratory  have 
been  extemporaneous.  The  classic  oratoi-s  spoke 
without  manuscripts  ;  their  preserved  orations, 
as  we  have  shown,  were  mostly  written  after  de- 
livery. The  greatest  oratore  of  the  British  sen- 
ate did  the  same ;  and  if  we  must  except  a  few, 
like  13urke,  it  will  be  found  that  they  were  not 
bo  much  eloquent  speakers  as  elegant  writers. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  91 

The  energetic  and  Greek-like  eloquence  of  the 
American  revolution  was  also  extemporaneous. 
Occasions  the  most  important  and  the  most  ap- 
palling, involving  the  fate  of  states,  and  present- 
ing the  most  formidable  contrasts  of  parties  and 
speakers,  have  been  met  and  triumphantly  con- 
ti'olled  in  extemporaneous  discourse  ;  the  speak- 
ers preferring  to  be  unembarrassed  by  the  par- 
ticularities of  verbal  preparation.  It  may  be 
doubted,  indeed,  whether  the  highest  kind  of 
eloquence  can  be  otherwise  attained  :  it  is  true, 
at  least,  that  all  the  great  masters  of  tlie  art, 
Demosthenes  and  Cicero,  Mirabeau  and  Chat- 
ham, Grattan  and  Curran,  Henry  and  Webster, 
Whitefield  and  Hall,  have  been"extemporizers." 
There  is,  we  admit,  a  species  of  dramatic  elo- 
quence, the  eloquence  of  great  actors  on  the 
stage,  and  of  the  French  pulpit  in  the  age  of 
Louis  XIV.,  which  may  be  referred  to  as  an  ex- 
ception. .  We  would  not,  however,  allow  it  to 
be  even  an  exception.  On  the  stage,  it  is 
generally  but  poetical  recitation ;  and  in  the 
French  pulpit  it  was  a  similar  recitation  of 
poetical  prose,  splendid,  without  doubt,  in  its 
way,  but  nevertheless,  poetry  rather  than 
oratory.  Poetry  and  eloquence  are  quite  dis- 
tinct, though  often  practically  confounded.   . 


92  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

If  the  liigliest  efforts  of  public  speaking  have 
been  extemporaneous,  it  is  certainly  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  the  efforts  of  ordinary  occasions 
can  be. 

Even  in  criticism  and  the  literary  lecture,  Cole- 
ridge found  it  practicable  and  desirable  to  ex- 
temporize. Of  his  lectm'es  on  Shakspeare,  Mr. 
Collier,  who  heard  them,  says,  "  that  for  the 
third  lecture,  and  indeed  for  the  remainder  of 
the  series,  he  made  no  preparation,  and  was 
liked  better  than  ever,  and  vociferously  and 
heartily  cheered.  Tlie  reason  was  obvious  ;  for 
what  came  from  the  heart  of  the  speaker  went 
warm  to  the  heart  of  the  hearer ;  and  though 
the  illustrations  might  not  be  so  good,  yet  being 
extemporaneous,  and  often  from  objects  imme- 
diately before  his  eyes,  they  made  more  impres- 
sion, and  seemed  to  have  more  aptitude." 

In  the  first  edition  of  Coleridcje^s  Literary 
Remains  is  a  letter  from  him  to  ^Ir.  l>ritton,  in 
which  he  thus  indirectly  corroborates  lAw  Col- 
lier's description  of  the  delivery  of  his  thoughts 
at  his  lectures : — 

"The  day  of  the  lecture,  till  the  hour  of 
commencement,  I  devote  to  the  consideration, 
What  of  the  mass  before  me  is  best  fitted 
to  answer  the  purposes  of  a  lecture?  that  is, 


REQUIRED    BY     THE    TIMES. 


93 


to   keep   the    caudience   awake    and   interested 
during  the  delivery,  and  to  leave  a  sting  be- 
hind;  that  is,  a  disposition  to  study  the  sub- 
ject anew,  under  the  Ughtof  a  new  principle. 
Several  times,  however,  partly  from  apprehen- 
sion respecting  my  health  and  animal   spirits, 
partly  from  my   wish  to  possess   copies  that 
might  afterward  be  marketable  among  the  pub- 
lishers, I  have  previously  written  the  lecture; 
but  before  I  had  proceeded  twenty  minutes  I 
have  been  obliged  to  push  the  MS.  away,  and 
give  the  subject  a  new  turn.     Nay,  this  was  so 
notorious,   that  many  of  my  auditors  used  to 
threaten  me,  when  they  saw   any  number  of 
written  papers  on  my  desk,  to  steal  them  away, 
declaring  they  never  felt  so  secure  of  a  good 
lecture  as  when  they  perceived  that  I  had  not  a 
single  scrap  of  writing  before  me.     I  take  far, 
far  more  pains  than  would  go  to  the  set  compo- 
sition of  a  lectm-e,  both  by  varied  reading  and 
by  meditation;  but  for  the  words,  illustrations, 
.  &c.,  I  know  almost  as  httle  as  any  one  of  the 
audience  (that   is,  those  of  anything   like  the 
same  education  with  myself)  what  they  will  be 
five  minutes  before  the  lecture  begins.     Such  is 
my  way,  for  such  is  my  nature ;  and  in  attempt- 
ing any  other  I  should  only  torment   myself 


94  ESSAYS    ON    THE     PKEACHING 

in  order  to  disappoint  my  auditors — torment 
myself  during  the  delivery,  I  mean :  for  in  all 
other  respects  it  would  be  a  much  shorter  and 
easier  task  to  deliver  them  in  writing." 

Observing  men,  who  may  have  little  prac- 
tice in  an  art  which  requires  genius,  are  some- 
times better  judges  of  the  principles  of  such 
an  art  than  are  its  practical  proficients;  the 
latter  are  beguiled  in  their  judgments  by 
the  facilities — the  ready  intuitions  of  genius. 
Genius  acts  instinctively,  and  seldom  observes 
the  process  of  its  own  operations.  Hence  good 
poets  are  seldom  good  critics ;  and  genuine 
orators  haye  seldom  accurately  defined  their 
art.  Goldsmith,  who  knew  nothing  of  it  from 
practice,  but  much  from  observation,  has  given 
us  perhaps  one  of  the  best  definitions.  He 
says:  "A  man  may  be  called  eloquent  who 
transfers  the  passions  or  sentiments  with  whicli 
he  is  moved  into  the  breast  of  anotlier.'' 
Again:  "In  a  word,  \o  feel  your  subject  tlior- 
oughly,  and  to  speak  without  fear,  are  the  only 
rules  of  eloquence  properly  so  called."  He  is 
more  ex])licit  in  another  passage:  "Be  con- 
vinced of  the  trutli  of  the  subject,  be  perfectly 
acquainted  with  the  object  in  view,  prepossess 
yourself  with  a  low  (<])inion  of  your  audience, 


REQUIRED    BY    THE   TIMES.  95 

and  do  the  rest  extempore.  By  this  means  strong 
expressions,  new  thoughts,  rising  passions,  and 
the  true  style,  will  naturally  ensue."  Every 
successful  "  extemporizer "  will  give  to  the 
second  passage  the  authority  of  an  axiom.  It 
may  be  statec^as  a  fundamental,  an  all-compre- 
hensive rule  in  eloquence— /e^Z  and  he  fearless. 
The  third  quotation  is  but  an  expansion  of  the 
second,  with  one  very  defective  clause ;  it  is 
not  necessary,  in  order  to  "  speak  without  fear," 
that  the  speaker  should  "  prepossess  himself  with 
a  low  opinion  of  his  audience  ;"  far  otherwise. 
The  importance  of  his  subject,  the  pre-eminence 
of  better  considerations  and  motives,  (especially 
in  the  preacher,)  and  the  consciousness  af  com- 
petent preparation,  will  lift  him  above  the  influ- 
ence of  fear  much  more  effectually  than  an  im- 
pression which,  in  most  cases,  must  be  false,  and 
in  all  should  be  ungrateful  to  an  elevated  mind. 

But  how  command  this  frame  of  mind — ^'■feel- 
ing and  fearless  V  that  is  the  question. 

The  advocate  of  notes  proposes  to  protect 
himself,  by  their  aid,  from  fear  and  embar- 
rassment. This  he  may  do  to  some  extent,  but 
almost  invariably  at  the  expense  of  the  other 
condition — ^feeliiujP  Tlie  minute  verbal  labor 
of  the  preparation,  and  the  mechanical  man- 


96  E8SAY8    ON    THE    PREACHING 

nerisras  of  the  delivery  of  manuscript  sermons, 
can  scarcely  fail  to  impair  the  freshness  and 
impetus  of  thought.  Tlie  preacher  may  be  di- 
dactive  and  instructive,  but  he  can  rarely  be 
eloquent.  This  method  may  suit  the  professor's 
chair  or  the  lyceum  desk;  but  i^is  at  variance 
with  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  pulpit.  The 
people  might  as  well  read  for  themselves;  they 
may  find  better  sermons  in  their  libraries.  The 
pulpit  ought  to  be  didactive;  but  it  ought  to 
be  more — it  should  be  the  fountain  of  religious 
sympathies^  as  well  as  religious  instruction;  it 
was  designed  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  as  well  as 
the  truth  of  Christianity  in  the  world,  and  for 
this  reason  no  proficiency  of  the  people  in 
Scriptural  knowledge  can  supci-scde  its  ap- 
pointed instrumentality.  Preaching  is  not  an 
adventitious  appliance  of  Christianity,  nor  would 
we  make  it  out  a  sacrament ;  yet  it  stands  next 
to  the  eucharist  and  baptism — the  third  great 
institution  of  our  religion,  having  as  much 
authority  and  speciality  as  the  sacraments; 
and  were  the  Bible  in  every  man's  hand,  still 
would  it  stand  a  liigh  ordinance  of  God,  a 
source  of  vivification  and  impulse  to  the 
Church,  until  the  end  of  tlie  world.  This  is 
tlie  mmn  purport  of  the  pnlpit — if  not,  then 


KEQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  97 

the  press  or  the  ■  religious  academy  can  super- 
sede it. 

How  can  we  reconcile  with  such  views  that 
cold  and  lifeless  retail  of  religious  truth  from  a 
manuscript,  which  is  misnamed  preaching?  As 
we  have  heretofore  remarked,  it  seems  hardly- 
less  than  ludicrous,  to  imagine  Christ  on  the 
mount,  Peter  on  the  day  of  pentecost,  or  Paul 
on  Mars'  Hill,  reading  a  manuscrijyt. 

If,  then,  the  advocate  of  manuscripts  can  pre- 
vent embarassment  or  fear  by -them,  (which  is 
not  unqualifiedly  the  case,)  still  he  loses  an  ad- 
vantage infinitely  more  important  than  the  one 
he  gains. 

Tlie  alleged  advantage  is,  we  believe,  the  main 
design  of  the  use  of  manuscripts  in  preaching 
It  is  not  that  the  discourse  may  be  more  exact, 
more  compact.  It  may  be  doubted  whether 
this  is  desirable  for  popular  assembhes;  and 
extemporaneous  discourse,  with  suitable  pre- 
paration, will  admit  of  the  most  consecutive 
thought.  There  are  other  and  better  reliefs  from 
embarrassment,  which  we  shall  soon  consider. 
Meanwhile,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  it  is  no 
serious  reason  for  discouragement,  especially  to 
the  young  speaker.  Animal  courage  seldom  co- 
exists with  strong  susceptibilities  of  the  imagin- 
1 


98  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

ation  or  the  heart.  Few  great  captains  have 
been  eloquent.  Few  distinguished  poets  or 
oratoi-s  have  shown  much  bravery.  Cicero  de- 
clares that  he  always  trembled  before  addressing 
an  assembly.  Demosthenes  showed  himself  a 
coward,  and  Whitefield  confessed  himself  one. 
Of  all  qualities,  animal  courage  is  the  least  allied 
to  other  excellences;  and  it  will  be  observed, 
that  of  all  public  speakers,  those  braggadocios 
who  fear  nothing  have  generally  the  least  of 
that  sensibility  which  frequently  makes  a  tremb- 
ling man  a  son  of  thunder  or  an  angel  of  con- 
solation. Diffidence  in  the  early  career  of  a 
public  speaker  is  therefore  a  good  sign.  It 
denotes  sensibility ;  and  without  sensibility  there 
is  no  eloquence.  In  time,  it  may  be  sufficiently 
subdued  to  have  all  its  advantages  without  its 
disadvantages.  And  it  will  always  have  the  one 
advantage  mentioned  by  a  classic  and  accom- 
plished lawyer,  the  younger  Pliny, — "A  con- 
fusion and  concern  in  the  countenance  of  a 
speaker  casts  a  gi*ace  upon  all  that  he  utters; 
for  there  is  a  certain  decent  timidity,  which  I 
know  not  how,  is  infinitely  more  engaging  than 
the  assumed  self-sufficient  air  of  confidence." 

Our  remarks  thus  far  ajiply  i)articularly  to 
sermons  entirely  written.     We  ol>ject  less,  but 


KEQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  99 

yet  strongly,  to  the  use  of  briefs  in  the  pulpit.  * 
We  can  conceive  of  no  reason  for  it  except 
indolence  or  imbecility.  It  is  liabit,  at  lirst 
indulged,  but  at  last  fixed.  Can  it  be  supposed 
that  a  brief  sketch,  seldom  occupying  more  than 
a  letter-page,  can  be  noted  down  and  then 
studied,  revolved,  expanded  in  the  mind,  and 
yet  not  be  sufficiently  impressed  on  the  memory 
to  allow  the  speaker  to  dispense  with  his  notes? 
If  not,  we  cannot  conceive  how  such  imbecility 
of  memory  can  coexist  with  the  other  mental 
qualifications  which  are  deemed  necessary  for 
the  Christian  ministry.  We  know  men  of  the 
weakest  memories  for  verbal  details,  who,  never- 
theless, can  study  out  sermons  requiring  an 
hour,  or  an  hour  and  a  half  in  delivery,  so  as  to 
recall  with  accuracy  every  division,  subdivision, 
illustration,  and  reference.  We  repeat,  it  is 
habit  that  leads  to  the  necessity  of  briefs  in  the 
pulj)it.  The  speaker  who  uses  them  fixes  not 
in  his  mind  the  capital  ideas  as  centers  of  asso- 
ciation for  the  subordinate  thoughts;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  stores  his  memory  with  the  filling 
up,  and  then  refers  to  his  manuscript  for  the 
leading  propositions.  This  course  is  contrary  to 
the  very  philosophy  of  association,  and  must 
cost  more  labor  than  the  opposite  method — not 


100  ESSAYS    ON    THE    I'KEArillNG 

to  speak  of  the  interi'uption  of  thought  and 
feeling  occasioned  by  such  references.  Let  him 
go  into  the  pulpit  with  his  subject  printed 
on  his  memory  in  its  length  and  breadth; 
let  him  see  "through  and  through"  it  clearly; 
let  him  feel  that  nothing  remains  to  be  done  but 
to  deliver  his  distinct  and  glowing  impressions ; 
and  will  he  not  have  more  self-possession  and 
more  buoyant  freedom  than  if  he  enters  it  with 
that  vagueness  of  mind  which  requires  the  aid 
of  a  manuscript?  But  what  if  he  is  inex- 
perienced, or  weak  of  nerve,  and  becomes 
embarrassed,  and  "forgets  his  place" — what 
then?  Why,  let  him  stumble  along,  and  say 
"Amen"  as  soon  as  he  can.  He  will  much 
sooner  overcome  such  a  liability,  by  so  doing, 
than  by  trusting  to  his  notes.  A  child  learns  to 
walk  more  readily  by  its  own  awkward  move- 
ments than  by  mechanical  supports. 

"We  have  mentioned  that  the  chief  design  of 
notes  is  the  prevention  of  embarrassment,  and 
the  vagueness  which  is  usually  its  consequence, 
and  have  said  that  there  are  other  and  better 
preventives.  Tlie  rule  quoted  from  Goldsmith 
omits  the  most  important  one  whicli  a]>plies  to 
the  pulpit,  viz.,  the  spiritual  support  which  is 
pledged  to  the  devoted  minister.     This  thought 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIiS[EP.  101 

is  usually  dis2)atclied  with  little  remark,  as  pre- 
supposed, but  we  would  emphasize  it.  It  is  a 
vast  consideration ;  it  is  not  enough  pondered 
by  God's  ministers.  We  have  been  aston- 
ished at  the  slight  moral  courage  of  many 
who  have  read  the  promise  a  thousand  times, 
and  who  ought  to  carry  it  in  their  hearts  into 
the  pulpit,  like  an  impulse  from  "  the  third 
heaven :" — "/  will  he  with  you  even  unto  the 
cndy  Blessed  is  the  assurance.  Every  word  is 
strong.  "I" — who?  He  who  is  God  over  all, 
and  blessed  for  evermore ;  "  will  be,"  it  is 
positive  ;  with  whom  ?  "  with  you  ;"  "  even,"  it 
is  emphatical ;  "  unto  the  end,"  it  is  definite. 
And  now  with  such  a  promise,  and  with  a 
special  commission  from  heaven  for  his  work, 
and  with  all  the  motives  of  eternity  stirring  his 
spirit,  ought  it  to  be  exj^ected  that  the  minister 
of  Christ  should  quail  and  cower?  He  may  well 
tremble  under  his  responsibility,  but  he  should 
be  the  last  to  fear  the  face  of  man.  We  have 
already  admitted  that  he  may  in  his  early  efforts 
be  diffident,  and  that  it  is  not  a  bad  indication 
for  him  to  be  so,  but  we  contend  that  he  can, 
and  ought  to  overcome  this  inconvenience,  with- 
out a  resort  to  notes.  It  is  an  evil  which 
ought  to  be   corrected — an   enemy  that  ought 


102  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PUEACIIIXG 

to  be  fonglit  do-\vn  ;  l)ut  let  it  be  conquered,  net 
by  skulkiug  under  shelter,  but  sword  in  hand. 

Again,  one  of  the  most  important  remedies  of 
this  diliicidty  is  competent  preparation.  We 
liave  been  a  little  curious  to  learn  the  varl(ni:< 
modes  of  preparation  among  preachei"s,  and  are 
astonished  at  their  diversity.  Some  we  have 
found  who  never  put  pen  to  paper  for  the 
pulpit.  This  certainly  is  not  right.  If  it  were 
possible  to  study  a  subject,  and  to  retain  it  in 
the  mind  thoroughly,  for  the  time  being,  without 
a  record,  still  it  must  be  committed  to  paper,  or 
bo  unvailable  for  the  future.  They  who  eschew 
notes  in  the  study  are  not  usually  overburdened 
with  ideas  in  the  pulpit.  The  indolence  and 
negligence  of  such  are  inexcusable.  We  never 
knew  any  one  profound  or  accurate  who  fol- 
lowed this  coui-se. 

A  second  class  go  to  the  opposite  extreme, 
writing  their  sermons  in  extenso^  and  j)reaching 
them  memoriter.  Tlierc  are  many  objections  to 
this  coui-se.  It  consumes  too  nmch  time.  Few 
laithful  pastoi's  can  find  leisure  from  more  im- 
])ortant  duties  for  the  composition  and  memoriz- 
ing of  two  sermons  per  week.  It  will  lie  almost 
invariably  found  that  these  sermon  writers  are 
]ioor  pastoi's,  not  only  neglecting  their  pastoral 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  103 

duties,  but  rendered  unsociable,  reserved,  if  not 
morose,  by  their  sedentary  and  laborious  habits. 
Extemporaneous  preachers  ought  to  wi'ite  much, 
not  only  to  preserve  their  thoughts,  but  to 
counteract  a  tendency  to  versatility  and  ver- 
bosity—a tendency  which  will  always  beset 
them — but  they  had  better  write  their  sermons 
after  than  before  delivery.  Tliey  should  be 
habitual  writers,  also,  on  subjects  not  peculiar  to 
their  profession.  Some  of  the  most  eloquent 
speakers  have  been  among  the  most  vigorous 
writers;  Cicero  is  an  instance  from  the  bar,  and 
Hall  from  the  pulpit;  yet  it  was  in  spite  of 
their  oratorical  habits  and  by  the  closest  dis- 
cipline. Again,  sermons  delivered  inemoviter 
lose  their  freshness  and  power.  Few  are  the 
men  who  can  vivify  a  stale  and  memorized  dis- 
course; and  those  who  can,  could,  with  suitable 
practice,  be  much  more  effective  in  extempor- 
aneous delivery.  There  is  no  eloquence  more 
commanding  and  sublime  than  that  of  the  ex- 
temporaneous speaker,  who,  with  a  mastery  of 
his  subject,  with  the  strenuous  action  of  all  his 
faculties,  and  the  full  play  of  his  feehngs,  stands 
before  his  audience  unshackled  by  preconceived 
details  of  thought  and  language. 

There    are   others  who  write    out  their  dis- 


104  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PEEACUING 

courses,  but  do  not  deliver  tliein  verhatlm  j  re- 
taining in  mind  the  general  train  of  thought, 
and  using  the  language  only  so  far  as  it  can  he 
readily  recollected.  This  would  seem  an  unfa- 
vorable method,  for  if  the  speaker  is  somewhat 
embarrassed  he  will  endeavor  to  call  up  his  lan- 
guage to  his  assistance,  and  not  being  able  to  do 
it,  will  become  the  more  pei*plexed ;  and  if  he 
should  not  be  embarrassed,  he  will  be  able  to 
speak  without  such  verbal  preparation.  In  tlie 
one  case,  it  is  an  evil ;  in  the  other,  superfluous. 

There  are  other  wrong  modes  of  preparation, 
which  need  not  be  enumerated;  let  us  inquire 
for  the  right  one. 

By  extemporaneous  we  need  not  say  that  wo 
have  not  meant  unpremeditated  discourse,  but 
unwritten.  The  most  thorough  study  is  requisite 
for  success  to  an  extemporaneous  sjyeaJcer.  What- 
is  the  best  mode  of  preparation  for  him  ?  Tliis 
is  the  question.  "We  pretend  not  to  answer  it 
fully,  but  will  submit  a  few  suggestions  on  the 
subject.  A  direct  answer  should  include  the 
selection,  arrangement,  and  elaboration  of  sub- 
jects ;  a  more  comprehensive  one  would  take  in 
that  prior  mental  discipline  and  training  in  elo- 
cution which  we  at  present  presuppose. 

In  regard  to  the  selection  and  arrangement  of 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  105 

subjects,  there  are  two  modes — tlie  textual  aud 
the  topical.  Both  are  common ;  but  some 
clergymen  use  almost  exclusively  the  former. 
In  their  ordinary  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  they 
select  a  striking  or  apposite  text,  and  form  their 
divisions  upon  its  different  clauses.  There  is  a 
kind  of  expository  preaching,  and  there  are  some 
individual  texts  in  respect  to  which  this  plan  is 
good- — sometimes  admirable  ;  but  in  most  cases 
it  is  obviously  not  the  best.  A  text  includes 
frequently  as  many  distinct  topics  as  it  does 
clauses,  and  all  tmity  must  be  put  at  defiance 
by  adjusting  the  divisions  of  the  sermon  to  those 
of  the  passage.  We  would  not  stickle  too  much 
for  a  rigorous  use  of  critical  rules  in  addressinir 
popular  assemblies ;  still  they  are  to  be  respect- 
ed, for  they  are  not  adventitious ;  they  are 
founded  in  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind, 
and  prescribe  the  best  mode  of  addressing  it — 
and  the  pulpit  should  always  use  the  best. 

It  is  not  a  little  amusing  to  observe  with  what 
mechanical  regularity  some  "  textualists"  lay 
down  their  "  first,"  "  secondly,"  and  "  thirdly," 
(most  generally  the  object,  the  means,  and  the 
motives,)  and  finally  "taper  off"  with  a  well- 
assorted  series  of  "  conclusions,"  sacrificing  a'U 
unity  of  subject  for  uniformity  of  method.  Unity 


106  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACIIING 

is  one  of  the  highest  rhetorical  excellences  of  a 
sermon.  Tlie  discourse  is  better  remembered 
than  when  composed  of  unrelated  or  slightly- 
related  parts.  One  leading  truth  distinctively 
and  exclusively  presented,  can  be  better  appre- 
ciated by  the  judgment  of  the  hearer  than  many 
of  questionable  relation.  A  single  truth,  espe- 
cially if  a  weighty  one,  (and  what  truth  of  reli- 
gion is  not?)  illustrated,  placed  in  difterent 
lights,  armied  and  enforced  throuo-hout  a  dis- 
course,  M'ill  make  a  pro  founder  impression  on 
the  conscience  of  the  hearer  than  a  variety,  dis 
cui*sively  treated.  There  is  sometimes  much 
execution  done  by  a  scattering  fire ;  still  it  is 
never  so  sure  as  tliat  which  is  well-directed, 

A  furtlicr  objection  to  this  textual  method  is, 
tliat  the  stated  preacher  especially  requires  a 
moi'e  economical  distribution  of  liis  resources, 
or  he  will  soon  find  himself  exhausted,  and  under 
the  necessity  of  repeating  in  substance  his  old 
outlines. 

The  topical  mode  of  selecting  and  arranging 
subjects  is  that  in  which  the  })rcachor  iirst  deter- 
mines his  theme  or  topic^  and  afterward  selects 
a  text  suitable  for  it.  For  instance,  he  chooses 
the  subject  of  "  religious  zeal,"  and  he  can  take 
for  his  text,  "Tt  is  good  to  be  zealously  ailectcd 


REQIIIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  lOY 

always  in  a  good  thing."  Eepentance,  faitli, 
holiness,  perseverance,  apostacy,  &c.,  &c.,  are 
examples  of  topics  for  which  appropriate  texts 
may  he  fomicl  after  the  discourse  is  completely 
studied.  Such  a  discourse  may  consist  of  divi- 
sions and  subdivisions  framed  upon  the  different 
aspects  of  the  topic,  or  of  a  simple  series  of 
arguments  or  illustrations  on  one  of  its  aspects ; 
the  latter  being  always  preferable,  as  admitting 
more  closeness  and  more  economy  of  thought. 
Having  prepared  his  sermon  in. reference  only 
to  the  topic,  he  can  apply  the  text  to  it  so  far  as 
it  is  applicable,  without  digressing  into  col- 
lateral clauses.  Most  of  the  sermons  of  Chal- 
mers are  specimens,  while  the  skeletons  of 
Simeon  are  examples  of  the  textual  method.  As 
the  advantages  of  this  mode  are  the  converse  of 
the  disadvantages  of  the  other,  they  need  not  bo 
discussed.  Its  simplicity,  unity,  energy,  and 
economy  are  manifest. 

We  have  blended  the  subjects  of  selection 
and  arrangement  for  the  ■  sake  of  brevity. 
Another  point  remains,  namely,  the  elaboration 
of  the  discourse,  or  that  study  which  should  fol- 
low the  preparation  of  the  "  sketch  "—the  fill- 
ing up  of  the  outline.  We  have  several  brief 
observations  to  make  respecting  it. 


108  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACHING 

First.  The  filling  up,  though  general,  should 
be  so  complete  that  the  speaker  can  see  through 
the  entire  perspective  of  the  discourse.  We  do 
not  mean  that  the  whole  discoui'se  should  be 
prepared;  ])iit  that  the  different  propositions 
should  he  connected  by  leading  and  well-related 
thoughts.  An  extemporaneous  speaker  should 
not  go  into  the  pulpit  (except  in  emergencies) 
■without  such  a  clew.  Tliese  connecting  thoughts 
may  be  general  enough  to  admit  of  abundant 
extemporaneous  additions — three  or  four,  in  a 
dozen  words,  between  each  proposition,  might 
suffice — but  they  should  always  be  thoroughly 
studied  and  invariably  noted  in  their  2)lace  on 
the  manuscript.  We  consider  this  an  indis- 
pensable rule.  Many  sermonizers  merely  sketch 
their  "divisions,"  and  trust  tu  the  occasion  for 
the  intermediate  train  of  thought :  such  are 
never  safe.  If  embarrassment  or  temporary 
lassitude  shoidd  overtake  them,  they  may  state 
their  well-wrought  positions  only  to  bring  into 
greater  contrast  a  meager,  spiritless  filling  up. 
[Next  to  divine  aid,  this  rule  is  perhaps  the  best 
guarantee  against  embarrassment.  It  gives  the 
speaker  a  degree  of  confidence  in  his  subject, 
which  few  embarrassing  circumstances  can  dis- 
concert.     Whatever  may  be  his  lack  of  viva- 


REQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  109 

city  or  fertility  when  he  enters  the  pulpit,  he 
feels  assured  that  he  has  provided  a  stock  of 
solid  and  instructive  thought,  which  cannot  but 
be  received  with  profit  and  respect  by  his  hear- 
ers ;  there  is  little  danger  of  confusion,  there- 
fore ;  not  so  will  he  discourse  as  one  who  beats 
the  air.  We  know  of  successful  extemporizers 
who  consider  this  the  prime  human  security  in 
the  pulpit. 

Second,  Not  only  would  we  have  a  somewhat 
consecutive  train  of  thought  sketched  down  be- 
tween the  propositions,  but  it  is  desirable  that 
some  sjpecially  good  thoughts,  some  apt  or 
striking  illustrations  adapted  to  throw  a  strong 
light  on  the  suhject,  and  to  arrest  the  attention 
of  the  audience,  should  be  noted — some  illustra- 
tive quotation  of  Scripture  or  apposite  passage 
of  poetry — which  will  strike  the  mind  as  ap- 
propriate and  even  beautiful.  Let  not  such  a 
course  be  pronounced  factitious  or  meretricious. 
We  demand  such  j)reparation  of  the  2:)olitical  or 
literary  orator ;  and  is  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God  less  worthy?  ]S[o  speaker  who  wishes 
to  make  a  forcible  and  vivid  impression  should 
neglect  it.  We  do  not  recommend  that  such 
passages,  when  original,  should  be  prepared  in 
their  verbal  dress ;  in  this  respect  they  should 


110  ESSAYS     ON     THE     rilEACIIING 

be  extemporaneous — but  let  them  be  noted. 
The  abbreviations  given  by  Gregory  of  the 
concluding  passages  of  Robert  Hall's  cele- 
brated sermon  on  "  Sentiments  Suitable  to  the 
Times  "  are  fine  examples.  William  Pitt  pro- 
nounced the  last  five  pages  of  that  discourse 
more  eloquent  than  anything  else  on  record. 
The  language  was  extemporaneous,  yet  those 
overwhelming  apostrophes  were  well  studied. 

Tliird.  After  thus  thoroughly  preparing  the 
discourse,  the  next  step  is  to  commit  its  oxU- 
Ittus  well  to  memory.  The  more  it  is  elaborated, 
the  more  readily  can  it  be  memorized ;  in  most 
cases  the  two  processes  are  coincident.  Those 
who  depend  upon  manuscripts  in  tlie  pulpit 
cannot  be  aware  of  the  facility  of  memorizing 
after  such  preparation. 

Fourtli.  There  is,  besides  memorizing,  a  sjye- 
cies  of  reviewing  practiced  by  most,  perhaps 
all  extemporaneous  speakers,  which  may  be 
called  ruminating.  "  I  never,"  said  Bolton, 
"  have  preached  a  sermon  to  my  people  which 
I  did  not  first  preach  to  myself."  Tliis  pre- 
meditating process  is  all-important  in  extempo- 
raneous discourse  ;  foi*  by  it  the  speaker  not 
only  refreshes  his  memory,  but  excites  liis 
thoughts,  and  kindles  hi.H  feelings.      Combined 


REQUIRED     BY    THE    TIMES.  HI 

with  an  ardent  spirit  of  prayer  and  a  close  self- 
application  of  the  subject,  it  becomes  a  most 
intense  and  hallowing  exercise.  There  are  two 
important  rules  respecting  it,  which  are  trans- 
gressed perhaps  by  most  preachers. 

One  is,  that  it  should  be  an  exercise  entirely 
of  mediation,  not   of  delivery.    The   speaker 
should  review  and  expand  his  thoughts,  but  not 
try  to  clothe  them  in  language.     He  will  find 
himself  always  tending  to  this  latter  point,  but 
should  obstinately  avoid  it,  because  appropri- 
ate language  will  occur  to  him  in  the  pulpit,  if 
his  thoughte  are  clear  and  vivid.     If  he  gives 
them  a  premeditated  dress,  he  will  probably  not 
be  able  to  recall  them  fully,  unless  he  can  also 
recall  the  language.     It  is  frequently  embarrass- 
ing to  depend  upon  premeditated  but  unwritten 
lano-uage ;  the  difiiculty  here  is  like  that  of  the 
memoriter  preacher   whose   manuscript  is   not 
well  committed,  and  whose  ineftectual  efforts  to 
recall  his  language  are   more  perplexing  than 
would  be    the   task  of  originating  it  extempo- 
raneously. 

Tlie  other  rule  is,  that  it  should  never  be  exer- 
cised much  immediately  hefore  preaching,— onlj 
so  far  as  to  reassure  the  memory.  Tlic  fatigue 
and  agitation  of  mind  occasioned  by  laborious 


/ 

112  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACHING 

and  anxious  revision,  just  before  entering  the 
pulpit,  must  in  most  cases  impair  its  buoyant 
play.  Let  there  be,  therefore,  a  full  interval  of 
repose  between  the  time  of  revision  and  that  of 
speaking.  It  is  said  of  Eowland  Hill,  that  he 
usually  indulged  in  mental  relaxation  before 
entering  the  desk,  and  frequently  -when  called 
from  his  study  to  attend  the  service,  he  was 
found  exercising  his  mechanical  taste  by  taking 
aj)art  and  recomposing  the  machinery  of  a  clock 
or  watch. 

We  might  enlarge  much  on  these  points,  but 
our  limits  require  brevity.  The  few  rules  wo 
liave  illustrated  have  been  learned  from  a  num 
ber  of  the  best  judges.  Various  minds  require 
various  methods ;  yet  these  few  and  simple  prin- 
ciples are,  we  think,  of  universal  and  essential 
application.  They  are  mostly  practical  axioms. 
We  believe  that  no  one  who  thoroughly  adopts 
them  will  find  it  necessary  or  desirable  to  tram- 
mel himself  in  the  pulpit  with  manuscripts. 

After  all,  the  great  reform  requisite  in  the 
pulpit  is,  we  think,  that  which  Ave  have  de- 
scribed in  the  preceding  pages.  Do  away  the 
factitious  mannerisms  of  preaching,  its  technical 
and  professional  formalism,  restore  it  to  its  prim- 
itive directness  and  simplicity,  so  that  the  peo 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES,  113 

pie  will  resort  to  it  not  as  to  a  literary  prelec- 
tion, and  tlie  preacher  himself  will  not  attempt, 
in  it,  an  intellectual  exhibition,  but  in  single- 
ness and  intentness  of  mind  will  admonish,  coun- 
sel, and  instruct  his  hearers,  weeping  with  those 
that  weep,  rejoicing  with  those  that  rejoice, — 
do  this  and  you  reform  it  at  once  in  all  other 
respects ;  its  elaborateness,  its  stiff  unnatural 
dignity,  its  "  notes,"  and  its  notable  feebleness, 
would  vanish  ;  it  would  become  more  instructive 
to  the  popular  mind  as  well  as  more  genial  and 
more  jpowerful. 

8 


114  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 


ESSAY  YI. 

METHODIST  PREACHING— ITS  PPJMITIVE  CIIAEACTEKISTIC8. 

Its  Success  —  Its  Original  Characteristics  —  It  was  Peculiar  iu  its 
Themes — What  were  they?  —  Its  Evangelical  Liberalism  —  It 
was  Peculiar  iu  its  Style  —  Its  Verbal  Style  —  Its  Oratorical 
Style  —  Its  Aim  at  Direct  Results  —  Its  Extemporaneous  De- 
livery. 

The  old  Methodist  preacliing !  "We  do  honestly 
confess  a  sort  of  pride  for  its  noble  naturalness, 
its  moral  power,  and  the  grandeur  of  its  results, 
and  some\yhat  of  a  tinge  of  denominational 
bigotry  in  favor  of  the  unadulterated  preserva- 
tion of  its  essential  qualities.  If  that  apparatus 
is  best  whi^h  best  accomplishes  its  ends,  who 
will  say  that  Methodist  preaching  has  not  been 
the  best  preaching  extant  in  our  world  for  a 
hundred  years  ?  Denominations  which  liad  been 
in  the  American  field  a  hundred  years  and  more 
before  Methodism  had  an  adherent — denomina- 
tions having  the  essential  truth,  and  an  educated 
ministry,  and  traditional  prestige,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  popular  respectability,  have  been  left  a 
century  in  the  rear  of  it ;  and  some  of  the  single 
annual  additions  of  the  latter  have  equaled  the 


KEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  115 

wliole  numerical  strength  of  tlie  former.  This 
is  a  point  to  be  touched  delicately,  we  know ; 
but  we  would  here  hold  in  abeyance  our  afore- 
said bigotry,  if  possible,  and  present  the  striking- 
fact  as  full  of  significance,  not  to  gratify  our 
denominational  vanity,  but  to  teach  us  an  ad- 
monitory lesson ;  for  let  us  be  assured,  that  the 
■preaching  of  the  %mrd  is  the  great  means  of 
evangelisation  in  the  earthy  and  that  the  peculi- 
arities which  have  given  preeminent  success  to 
our  preaching  should  be  held  with  an  unyield- 
ing gras23. 

Doubtless  our  denominational  progress  is  at- 
tributable to  a  great  many  conditions,  but  our 
preaching  has  been  the  chief  one ;  it  has  been 
related  to,  and  has  empowered  all  others.  Sup- 
pose we  had  sustained  our  itinerancy,  and  even 
our  wholesome  doctrines,  but  with  a  stereotyped, 
lifeless,  however  refined,  preaching — a  ministry 
with  even  the  culture  of  education,  but  heartlessly 
uttering  manuscript  essays  from  appointment  to 
appointment — would  our  cause  have  broken  out 
on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  overwhelming  the 
land,  as  it  has  through  the  labors  of  the  men 
who,  with  little  or  no  culture,  have  made  it  a 
glory  in  the  world  ?  And  does  any  one  doubt, 
that  if  all  the  Christian  preaching  of  the  earth 


116  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

were  conducted  in  the  same  style  of  directness, 
energy,  and  unction  that  these  men  used,  the 
Gospel  would  overflow  the  world,  as  Methodism 
has  so  rapidly  its  o\sti  immediate  fields  in  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  ?  Notwithstand- 
ing all  the  drawbacks  which  the  sectarian  deli- 
cacy of  such  illustrations  must  present,  even  to 
many  not  over-fastidious  Methodist  readers,  yet 
the  actual  force  of  them  is  felt  immediately  and 
conclusively.  Turn  all  the  pulpits  of  Cliristen- 
dom  into  such  batteries  as  were  the  original 
pulpits  of  Methodism,  and  the  evangelic  combat 
would  soon  resound  through  tlie  world.  Hesi- 
tate as  we  may  at  the  apparent  boastfulness  of 
the  remark,  all  Methodists  who  have  known 
that  ministry,  feel  "  the  full  assm-ance  of  faith  •' 
in  its  truthfulness. 

From  the  very  nature  of  the  subject,  it  is  im- 
possible for  us  to  speak  of  it  justly,  without  this 
apparent  sectarian  egotism.  We  must  be  per 
mitted,  therefore,  to  make  another  laudatory 
assertion  respecting  this  ministry,  namely,  that 
it  not  only  excelled  in  the  legitimate  results  of 
the  office,  but  has  been  marked  by  an  unusual 
amount  of  genuine  talent,  using  this  word  in  its 
popular  acceptation. 

Taken  as  a  whole,   the   English  "Wesleyan 


EEQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  117 

ministry  is  not  only  the  most  eifective,  but  the 
most  able  body  of  clergymen  in  Great  Britain ; 
and  if  we  were  to  express  fully  our  own  per- 
sonal  opinion,  we  should   add,   in  the  world. 
They  are  the  best  sermonizers,  and  the  best  pul- 
pit speakers  (being,  besides  the  Eoman  priests, 
the   only  extemporizers)  in  the   United  King- 
dom ;  and  if  once  in  an  age  the  Kirk  presents  a 
pulpit  prodigy  like  Chalmers,  or  the  Baptists  a 
Hall — cases  which  admit  of  no  denominational 
comparisons — yet  English   Methodism,   in   the 
number,  if  not  in  the  genius  of  its  "first-rate" 
men,   has   stood   pre-eminent.     More   masterly 
minds  have  not  been  connected  with  the  reli- 
gious aifairs  of  modern  England  than  the  Wat- 
sons,   Buntings,    ISTewtons,    Jacksons,    Dixons, 
Hannahs,  and  others  who  have  managed  the 
interests  of  Wesleyan  Methodism  "during   the 
last  fifty  years. 

In  this  country,  our  ministry  has  never  been 
destitute  of  masterly  intellects.  Asbury  will 
yet  be  placed,  if  not  at  the  head,  yet  among  the 
foremost  ecclesiastical  characters  in  American 
history.  Our  early  bishops,  M'Kendree,  George, 
Eoberts,  Soule,  Hedding,  have  been  men  of  the 
highest  pulpit  power — such  power  as  results  not 
merely  from  the  moral  peculiarities  of  Methodist 


118  ESSAYS    ON    THE     TEEACniNG 

preaching,  but  fi'om  commanding  faculties  and 
great  personal  characteristics.  Meanwhile, 
there  have  ever  and  anon  appeared  in  our  pul- 
pits rare  lights,  which  have  hardly  found  con- 
temporary rivals  elsewhere,  such  as  Summer- 
field,  Ross,  Bascom,  Enter,  Emor}-,  Fisk,  Olin, 
and  not  a  few  others,  dead  or  alive.  It  is  our 
sober  opinion,  that  if  we  take  the  aggregate  of 
"  first-rate  "  pulpit  men  of  all  American  Chris- 
tian sects,  Methodism  would  be  found  to  have 
decidedly  the  largest  proportion.  We  speak 
not  now  of  learning,  but  of  gi'eat  pulpit  ability 
and  great  personal  traits. 

It  has  not  been  for  want  of  superior  men  that 
Methodism  has  not  commanded  more  public 
respect ;  it  has  been  chiefly  because  of  its  rigor- 
ous peculiarities,  which  have  repelled  the  world, 
and  adventitious  circumstances  connected  with 
the  social  sphere,  to  which  it  has  chiefly  di- 
rected its  label's. 

The  mass  of  the  Methodist  ministry  has  not 
been  able  to  compare  with  that  of  other  sects  in 
edncation ;  but  this  is  tlie  only  point  (and  we 
ack^jpwledge  it  to  have  been  a  very  material 
one)  in  which  the  comparison  is  disparaging  to 
it.  In  natural  talent,  in  sound  Scriptural  know- 
ledge, in  all  the  great  traits  of  individual  char- 


/ 

EEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  119 

acter,  what  body  of  men  has  ever  surpassed 
it  ?  "  Their  works  do  follow  them  ;"  and  these 
are  the  best  criterion  of  their  capacity. 

While,  however,  we  unreservedly  contend  for 
thus  much,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  admit  that  our 
claim  may  not  have  been  equally  high  in  respect 
to  the  lowest  rank  of  the  American  ministries. 
With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  other  deno- 
minations, education  has  been  a  general  pre- 
requisite for  the  pulpit  among  American  sects. 
This  condition  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  pre- 
clude from  them  almost  entirely  a  certain  class 
of  laborers,  of  which  Methodism  has  availed 
itself  with  great  advantage  among  the  popular 
masses.  While  this  class  has  perhaps  been  the 
occasion  of  a  lower  estimate  of  our  ministry 
generally,  it  has  really  been  no  ground  of  com- 
parison with  other  sects,  as  it  constitutes  a 
peculiar  rank,  almost  entirely  exceptional  in 
their  ministries.  Tlie  question,  as  we  have  been 
reviewing  it,  is  not  whether  taken  aggregately, 
but  taken  proportionally,  Methodism  has  had 
as  competent  a  ministry,  or,  if  you  please,  a 
more  competent  ministry,  than  other  sects. 

It  would  not  be  just  for  us  to  leave  this 
admission  respecting  the  very  lowest  rank  of 
the  ministry,  without  a  qualification.  We  would 


120  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

not  disparage  it  by  saying  that  (with  one  or  two 
excei^tions)  it  is  peculiar  to  ourselves.  This  is  a 
fact,  but  it  is  not  a  disparaging  fact;  on  the  con- 
trary, were  it  demanded  of  us  to  say  which  class 
of  our  laborers  has  actually  most  extended  Me- 
thodism in  the  land,  and  most  peopled  heaven 
with  its  converts,  we  should  hesitate  to  award 
the  honor  to  any  other  than  this  very  class.  Our 
world  has  need  of  such  a  class  of  evangelical 
workmen,  and  it  will  always  have  this  need; 
and  God  grant  that  Methodism  may  always 
perceive  the  fact,  and  provide  for  it.  "We  are 
the  advocate  of  educational  and  ministerial  im- 
provement, but  we  should  consider  it  most  con- 
summate impolicy — an  act  of  ecclesiastical  felo 
de  se — for  Methodism  to  adopt  any  exclusive 
standard  of  ministerial  qualification.  Let  it  have 
its  standard,  and  a  good  one,  and  constrain  all 
to  it  whom  it  can;  but  keep  also  tluit  discretion- 
ary liberty  of  judgment,  by  wliicli  "Wesley 
founded  flie  modern  lay  ministry,  and  without 
which  Methodism  would  probably  have  been 
unknown  as  a  distinct  body  at  this  day. 

Now,  what  is  the  pm-port  of  all  these  remarks, 
trenching  so  much  as  they  of  necessity  have  had 
to  on  the  modesty  with  which  collective,  as 
well  as  individual,  men  should  speak  of  them- 


KEQTJIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  121 

selves?  Have  they  been  written  for  self-gratu- 
lation,  for  invidious  disparagement  of  sister 
Churches?  Assuredly  not;  we  have  set  out  to 
present  some  views  on  the  peculiarities  of  Me- 
thodist Preaching — peculiarities  which  we  fear 
need  to  be  somewhat  renewed  and  vindicated 
among  us;  and  we  hope  our  readers  will,  with 
ourselves,  deem  these  introductory  observations 
on  the  character  and  usefulness  of  our  denomi- 
national ministry,  not  irrelevant  to  the  design. 
Let  us  now  look  at  some  of  these  characteristic 
peculiarities. 

One  of  them,  and  doubtless  the  most  import- 
ant one,  was  the  fact  that  the  saving  elementary 
truths  of  the  Gospel  were  continually  reiterated  hy 
them.  Our  primitive  preachers  were  great  read- 
ers of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  their  own  theological 
standards.  Their  range  of  study  was  Hmited,  but 
it  was  fertile.  It  afforded  them  resources  for 
varied. preaching,  and  they  did  preach  variously; 
they  had  also  provocatives  enough  to  lead  them 
into  polemical  discussions ;  but,  whether  preach- 
ing polemics  or  didactics,  or  pouring  forth  their 
favourite,  general,  and  rousing  exhortations, 
they  had  the  happy  art  of  mingling  the  essential 
doctrines  of  grace  with  all.  Seldom  did  the 
man  who  was  inquiring  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be 


122  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

saved?"  hear  a  Methodist  preacher,  without 
bearing  away  with  him  the  precise  answer. 
Tlie  lost  condition  of  the  sonl  by  nature,  re- 
pentance toward  God,  faith  toward  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  justification,  sanctification,  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit — such  truths  seemed  to 
make  up  the  alphabet  out  of  which  the  very 
syllabification  of  their  discourses  was  formed; 
so  that  it  may  be  said,  with  but  little  qualifica- 
tion, that  whosoever  heard  an  ordinary'  ]\[eth- 
odist  sermon,  however  casually,  thenceforward 
knew  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  doctrines  of  grace. 

This  very  excellence  may  not  have  been 
without  a  fault — the  excess  of  a  good  thing; 
but  if  faulty,  its  error  was  on  the  safe  side. 
Considei'ing,  however,  the  circumstances  of 
those  times — the  necessity  of  direct  saving 
preaching  amid  the  universal  declension  of 
piety — it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  this 
general  uniformity  w^as  in  any  wise  a  defect. 

There  was  a  generousness,  a  sort  of  evangeli- 
cal liberalism,  about  the  subject-matter  of  the 
old  Methodist  preaching,  which  could  not  but 
inspire  both  the  preacher  and  his  hearers.  It 
repelled  everywhere  the  dogmatic  restrictions 
which  the  prevalent  creed  had  put  upon  the 
promises  of  the  gospel.     God  had  concluded  all 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES. 


123 


men  in  anbelief,  that  he  might  have  mercy 
upon  all,  was  its  affirmation,  in  the  face  of  all 
teaching  to  the  contrary.  Wliere  sin  abounds, 
grace  much  more  abounds,  it  asserted.  Univers- 
al redemption— the  universal  help  of  the  Holy 
Spirit-free,  present,  perfect,  and  eternal  salva- 
tion for  all  men  who  would  accept  it-this  was 
its  grand  predication;  and  men  bearing  such  a 
message  could  not  but  proclaim  it  as  with  the 
sound  of  trumpets. 

There  were,  doubtless,  many  other  elements 
of  moral  force  in  the  preaching  of  our  fathers, 
some  of  which  we  shall  proceed  to  mention ; 
but  we  cannot  refrain  from  pausing  here  to  put 
unwonted  emphasis  on  the  one  specified.     The 
saving  truths  of  revelation  are  the  great  ele-  • 
ments  of  moral  power  in  the  world.    God's  word 
is  "God's  almightiness"  among  men;    and  he 
that  invests  himself  with  its  great  essential  ener- 
gies is  the  mighty  man  in  the  moral  world. 
Michael  or  Gabriel  wielded  no  mightier  sword 
in  the  wars  of  the  angels.     If  nine-tenths  of  all 
the  dogmatic  theology  extant  were  at  once  ex- 
tinguished from  the  earth,  and  the  doctrines  im- 
mediately related  to  conversion  and  sanctifica- 
tion    were    brought   forth    in    our  pulpits  and 
religious   literature  with  proportionately  more 


124  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

fulness  and  frequency  and  a])plication  to  ordin 
aiy  life,  who  doubts  that  all  the  energies  of 
Christianity  would  he  redoubled?  The  early 
Methodist  preaehere,  being  mostly  men  who 
were  powerfully  converted  from  down-right  sin- 
fulness, went  forth  with  their  souls  imbued  and 
flaming  with  these  powerful  tniths,  and,  with 
whatever  inability  otherwise,  preached  them  in 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  power.  Tlie 
hardened  multitude  hailed  them  with  shouts  of 
derision ;  but,  listening,  wept,  fell  often  like 
dead  men  to  the  earth,  and  went  to  their  homes 
praying,  and  exclaiming  "Tliese  are  the  men 
who  show  ns  tlie  way  of  salvation!" 

As  we  prize  our  ministerial  vocation,  let  us 
study  well  this  example  of  our  fathei-s,  and  learn 
well  its  lesson.  Woe  to  us  when  the  generalities 
or  moralities  of  religion,  however  glorious,  shall 
take  the  place  of  those  direct,  soul-quickening 
doctrines  which  were  the  chief  themes  of  our 
first  ministry.  "We  need  them  ever,  as  we  have 
contended  on  a  former  page,  to  vitalize  the 
generalities  and  moralities  of  religion. 

So  mucli  for  the  main  themes  of  Methodist 
preacliing.  We  do  not  afhnii  that  these  were 
peculiar  to  it,  but  that  this  habitual  reiteration 
of  them  was.     Other  ministries  preached  them ; 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  125 

but  it  is,  we  suppose,  quite  generally  acknowl- 
edged, that  when  Methodism  went  forth  through 
the  land,  the  stated  ministries  of  the  country 
dealt  mostly  in  the  general  didactics  of  religion. 
When  Jesse  Lee  entered  ISTew-England,  a  half 
century  had  passed  since  the  last  extensive  re- 
vival^ — that  of  Edwards's  day. 

But  not  in  its  themes  only  was  Methodist 
preaching  peculiar ;  it  was  notably  so  in  its  style. 
Our  fathers,  more  than  any  other  modern  minis- 
try, preached  ad  pojpidum.  Tliey  came  out 
from  the  people,  and  knew  how  to  address  the 
people ;  and  the  popular  eifects  of  their  preach- 
ing, the  great  massive  ingatherings  of  the  people 
into  their  communion,  are  a  demonstration  of 
their  power  nothing  short  of  magnificent";  proof 
of  character  and  capacity  above  all  polemic 
tomes  or  literary  demonstrations  which  ever 
proceeded  from  clerical  heads.  Li  referring  to 
their  style  of  preaching,  we  speak  comprehen- 
sively, meaning  not  only  their  verhdl  style,  but 
their  mode  of  illustrating  the  truth  and  their 
style  of  elocution ;  and  in  all  these  respects  we 
have  the  presumption  to  say  that,  take  them  as 
a  whole,  they  had  more  manly  genuineness, 
more  practical  adaptedness,  and  therefore  more 
effectiveness,  than  any  other  ministry  since  the 


126  i:SSAYS    ON    THE    TKEACniNG 

days  of  tlie  apostles.  The  sectarian  egotism  of 
this  remark  must  be  excused,  for  the  fact  is,  to 
our  vision,  an  outstanding  one,  and  may  be  seen 
and  read  of  all  men,  in  the  results  of  their 
labours. 

In  regard  to  their  verbal  style,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  admit  the  charge  that  they  were  gen- 
ally  unlettered,  and  therefore  unprepared  to 
present  their  jjublic  instructions  with  those 
traits  of  literary  purity  and  elevation  which 
education  alone  can  confer,  and  which  we  ac- 
knowledge to  be  extremely  desirable  in  public 
religious  teachei-s,  both  as  beiitting  the  exalted 
character  of  moral  truth,  and  as  an  auxiliary 
means  of  the  elevation  of  the  popular  taste. 
We  would  not,  in  the  least,  depreciate  any  gen- 
uine accomplishment  which  can  be  brought  to 
the  aid  of  religion.  With  the  lack  of  literary 
polish,  however,  our  early  ministry  had  those  ad- 
vantages of  the  simple,  direct,  and  often  stren- 
uous speech  of  the  people,  which  educated  men 
are  too  apt  to  lose,  but  ought  not  to  lose,  in  their 
professional  diction.  Tlie  fi-uc  purity  of  Saxon 
consists  not  merely  in  its  simple  words,  l)ut  also 
in  a  sort  of  colloquial  facility  and  aptness  of 
phrases,  of  sentences ;  Addison's  contrast  with 
Johnson    is    nut   in    words   ojdy,    but    in  their 


EEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  127 

collocation.  I^ow,  what  we  would  remark  is, 
that  the  untutored  style  of  our  early  ministry 
had  this  gi-eat  excellence,  this  colloquial  direct- 
ness and  force.  And  this  is  an  inestimable  ex- 
cellence in  popular  address.  It  brought  the 
truth  not  only  to  the  hearing  of  the  people,  but 
to  their  comprehension ;  and  not  only  to  their 
comprehension,  but  to  their  interest.  Men  will 
readily  fall  asleej)  under  the  literary  style  of  a 
manuscript  sermon,  but  an  earnest  conversa- 
tional style  keeps  the  attention ;  it  leads  the  mind 
of  the  hearer  into  a  sort  of  interlocution  with 
the  speaker,  and  thus  tlie  truth  insinuates  itself 
into  the  conscience  and  the  heart.  This  was 
the  style  of  the  Great  Teacher  himself. 

Their  mode  of  illustrating  the  truth  was  of 
similar  character.  Simihtudes  drawn,  like 
Christ's,  from  familiar  life — allusions  to  local  or 
passing  events — the  thrilling  anecdote — these 
were  the  staple  of  their  expositions.  "We  do  not 
deny  that  in  individual  cases  they  were  exces- 
sive, and  became  too  characteristic,  so  as  to 
change  the  preacher  somewhat  into  the  anec- 
dote-monger ;  but  such  men  were  exceptional  to 
the  general  character  of  the  ministry.  While  the 
great  mass  of  the  Itinerancy  avoided  this  abuse, 
they    traversed    the    land,    wielding,    in    their 


128  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

homely,  earnest  speecli  and  popular  illustra- 
tions, a  power  over  the  common  mind,  com- 
pared with  which  the  customary  and  more 
refined  prelections  of  the  pulpits  of  the  day  were 
only  as  the  music  of  the  piper  compared  with 
the  wind  abroad  in  its  strength,  the  "mighty 
rushing  wind." 

One  of  their  characteristics,  seemingly  at  first 
view  a  fault,  but  really  a  great  excellence,  ought 
to  be  more  particularly  noticed;  we  mean  the 
almost  general  habit  of  giving  experimental 
illudrations  from  their  own  personal  religious 
history.  The  egotism  which  would  seem  to 
accompany  this  coui^se  under  more  stately  cir- 
cumstances, could  hardly  suggest  itself  to  them 
or  their  hearers  in  the  simplicity  of  their  primi- 
tive assemblies — held  often  in  barns,  kitchens, 
school-houses,  or  under  the  trees  of  the  forest. 
Studying  the  truth  in  their  Bibles,  these  labor- 
ious men  found  its  appropriate  comments  written 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  in  lines  of  fire,  ui)on  their 
own  souls;  and  when  these  comments  were  read 
aloud,  with  tears  and  sobbing  adoration,  the 
effect  was  resistless.  How  often,  when  the  rest 
of  the  discourse  has  apparently  failed  of  impres- 
sion, have  we  seen  the  multitudes  melt  with 
emotion  when  tliese  experimental   attestations 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  129 

have  been  adduced!  Such  references  to  their 
own  history  could  not  fail  to  kindle  their  reli- 
gious feelings,  and  to  spread  a  sympathetic 
emotion  through  their  assemblies. 

As  to  the  oratorical  style  of  the  early  Metho- 
dist preachers,  much  might  be  said,  though  we 
doubt  not  the  phrase  is  looked  upon  at  this 
moment,  by  some  of  our  readers,  with  quite 
equivocal  thoughts.  None,  however,  share  such 
thoughts  who  lived  in  their  day  and  heard  them 
often;  we  doubt,  indeed,  whether  any  such  one 
now  reads  these  lines  who  is  not  ready  to  affirm, 
that,  whatever  literary  improvement  may  have 
since  been  made  by  our  ministry,  in  genuine 
oratory  it  cannot  now  pretend  to  rival  its  earlier 
periods.  We  speak  of  the  average  ministry — 
tlierc  are  exceptional  cases  of  preeminence 
now,  and  there  were  then ;  but  we  doubt  much 
whether  the  mass  of  the  ministry  now  equal  in 
genuine  pulpit  eloquence  their  predecessors  of 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 

There  was  an  unusual  proportion  of  strong, 
stout-bodied  men  among  them;  their  itinerant 
habits  gave  them  robust  frames,  and  trumpet- 
like voices ;  and  their  popular  mode  of  address- 
ing the  masses  gave  them  the  right  command 
of  their  vocal  powers,  the  right  modulation  and 
9 


130  ESSAYS    ON     THE    PREACHING 

the  right  gesticulation.  What  preachers  now 
extant  among  us  sui-pass,  in  personal  dignity 
and  vocal  power,  Jesse  Lee,  Bostwick,  Sargeant, 
Koberts,  George,  Kuter,  Beaucharap,  Koszel, 
Merwin,  Brodhead?  Not  only  the  dignified 
mein,  but  the  sonorous  and  eloquent  tones  of 
these  men  are  remembered  throughout  the 
Church.  Tlie  last  of  them,  especially,  was  a 
noble  specimen  of  manhood  and  oratory;  he 
often  preached  on  the  final  judgment,  and 
usually  with  a  dignity  of  bearing  and  a  sub- 
limity of  voice  which  comported  even  with 
that  lofty  theme.  Those  who  heard  him  could 
hardly  have  been  more  awe-smitten  if  they  had 
seen  the  heavens  fleeing  away  at  the  approach 
of  the  Judge ;  and  often  scores  fell  to  the  earth, 
and  lay  as  dead  men,  while  "the  trumpet  waxed 
louder  and  louder." 

Tlie  naturalness,  the  colloquial  facility  of 
which  we  have  spoken,  were  adapted  to  true 
oratory.  Introducing  their  discourses  thus,  our 
old  preachers  usually  rose  with  the  subject  to 
higher  strains,  until  the  sublimest  declamation 
was  often  reached,  and  the  awe-struck  people 
wept  or  gi-oaned  aloud.  There  were  doubtless 
faults  about  them, — excesses  of  good  qualities, 
as  we  have  admitted;  but  these  defects  were 


KEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  131 

but  exceptional,  and  were  always  preferable  to 
the  opposite  ones. 

The  traits  already  enumerated  tended  to  pro- 
duce another  characteristic  peculiarity,  namely, 
direct  results.  Our  fathers  expected  to  see  men 
awakened  and  converted  under  their  sermons, 
and  the  expectation  led  to  an  adaptation  of  their 
discourses  to  this  end.  A  sermon  that  had  not 
some  visible  effect  was  never  satisfactory,  what- 
ever might  be  the  hope  of  its  future  results.  It 
was  usual  with  them  to  end  the  discourse  with 
a  home-directed  and  overwhelming  application, 
and  often  to  follow  it  immediately  with  exer- 
cises of  prayer,  that  they  might  gather  up  the 
shaken  fruit  on  the  spot.  Hence  revivals 
flamed  along  their  extended  circuits.  Tliey 
were  worTcTnen,  and  workmen  that  needed  not 
to  be  ashamed. 

Tliis  aim  at  direct  results  is  the  secret  of  one 
half  the  success  of  Methodism — it  is  the  expla- 
nation of  most  of  our  history.  Men  actuated 
and  thrilled  by  such  a  purpose — ^liow  could  they 
be  otherwise  than  eloquent  and  demonstrative  ? 
It  would  make  ordinary  talents  extraordinary, 
and  convert  weakness  itself  into  strength. 

Now  take  a  corps  of  robust  men,  possessed  of 
good  strong  sense,  the  vigorous  vernacular  of  the 


132  ESSAY8     UN     TIIK     1'KKAC1I1N« 

people,  staimcli  sonorous  voices,  and  sanctified 
hearts,  and  inspirit  them  with  the  purpose  and  ex- 
pectation of  immediate  results  from  their  labors, 
and  you  will  have  a  specimen  of  the  old  Metho- 
dist ministry.  How,  we  again  ask,  could  such 
men  be  otherwise  than  eloquent  and  genuinely 
great  ?  As  a  man  thinketh,  says  Solomon,  so  is 
he ;  much  more  may  it  be  said,  as  a  man  pur- 
poseth,  so  is  he.  Of  the  truly  great  men  of  the 
world  we  suppose  it  can  be  proved,  that  more 
have  owed  their  success  to  energetic  purpose  than 
to  great  faculties.  One  thing,  at  least,  seems  cer- 
tain, namely,  that  good  ordinary  faculties  being 
given,  and  a  determined  purpose  added,  success 
is  certain,  except  where  some  adventitious  ob- 
stacle, beyond  all  human  control,  intervenes. 
Tlie  will  is  a  presiding,  a  pervading  faculty. 
The  other  powers  are  individually  independent, 
to  a  great  extent.  A  man  may  have  a  strong 
imagination,  and  be  an  intellectual  coxcomb ; 
or  a  strong  memory,  and  be  a  blockhead ;  or  a 
cautious  judgment,  and  be  a  granite  post,  at 
once  as  insusceptible  and  as  immovable ;  but 
an  energetic  will  seenxs  related  to  all  the  other 
faculties,  and  energizes  them  all.  Tliere  are 
exceptions,  to  be  sure :  the  ass  may  sometimes 
be  determined,  but  the  hero  is  always  so. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  133 

Bring  a  man,  in  we  care  not  what  position, 
whether  a  mechanic  at  his  bench  or  a  captain 
at  the  head  of  hosts,  to  concentrate  his  en- 
deavors on  one  absorbing  purpose,  and  you  add 
to  all  his  resources  for  that  purpose  an  energy, 
which,  if  history  is  not  wholly  a  lie,  is  more 
important  than  all  of  them ;  and  which,  in  some 
cases,  when  the  destinies  of  states  have  im- 
pended, and  all  other  resources  have  been  con- 
founded, has  seemed,  like  God's  own  fiat,  to 
evoke  a  universe  of  means  out  of  nothing.  He 
must  be  the  great  man  who  manfully  and  per- 
sistently keeps  his  soul  up  to  a  great  purpose. 
If  even  uncontrollable  circumstances  interdict 
to  him  great  achievements,  still  his  souj  will  be 
great  within  him. 

Our  fathers,  like  the  apostles,  had  the  sub- 
limest  aim  possible  to  man — the  eternal  redemp- 
tion of  human  souls.  Tliey  made  this  an  im- 
mediate work,  and  directed  every  energy  to  it. 
A  sermon  with  them  was  not  an  entertaining 
exposition,  to  be  heard  by  a  self-complacent 
audience  through  a  leisure  hour;  nor  an  expert 
polemical  dissection;  nor  a  didactic  example  of 
clerical  scholarship  :  others  could  so  preach,  for 
they  had  qualified  themselves  for  it;  but  the 
untutored,  earnest-hearted  Methodist   ministry 


134  ESSAYS     ON    THE    TREACHING 

would  have  converted  itself  into  a  herd  of  ec- 
clesiastical apes,  by  attempting  to  assume  such 
a  character.  Preaching,  on  the  contrary,  was 
with  them  "  sounding  the  alarm  "  through  the 
land.  They  were  as  men  standing  on  the 
heights  of  the  shore,  and  crying  out  and  point- 
ing out  (to  wrecked  mariners)  the  way  to  the 
land,  amid  the  tumults  of  the  stomi.  What, 
under  such  circumstances,  could  they  do  with 
rhetorical  expletives,  with  circumlocutory  de- 
scriptions, or  finical  gesticulations  ?  They  would 
point  immediately  and  energetically  to  the 
place  of  safety;  they  must  speak  in  the  di- 
rectest  and  most  urgent  terms ;  and  every  look, 
gesture,  tone,  would  be  instinct  Avith  the 
thought  of  the  moment.  ' 

Now,  though  there  is  some  qualification  to  be 
given  to  this  description;  though  there  were  oc- 
casionally circumstances  in  which  a  difierent 
style  of  discourse  was  adopted  and  was  suitable, 
— yet  we  contend  that  this  was  the  usual  char- 
acter of  the  old  Methodist  preaching,  and  also 
that  it  is  the  legitimate  style  of  the  ambassador 
of  God ;  that  it  is  not  only  what  the  moral 
wants  of  the  world  demand,  but  that,  more  than 
any  other  mode  of  preaching,  it  naturally  tends 
to  true  eloquence ;  not  only  the  eloquence  of 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  135 

earnest  thought  and  feeling,  but  to  that  simple, 
direct,  urgent  style  which  always  accompanies 
the  highest  order  of  oratory,  and  to  that  natural 
but  energetic  manner  which  secures  the  right 
modulation,  botli  of  voice  and  gesture. 

Tlie  subject  suggests  a  practical  remark  which 
we  cannot  forbear  uttering.  This  energetic 
directness  of  aim  furnishes  a  rule  of  success 
almost  infallible,  and  yet  jpracticdble  to  all 
Tnen.  No  ambassador  of  Christ  should  be 
content  to  be  an  ordinary  man.  He  professes 
to  believe  himself  armed  with  a  preternatural 
authority,  and  supplied  with  preternatural  en- 
dowments. These,  if  nothing  else,  should  give 
him  an  extraordinary  character,  based  upon  an 
extraordinary,  pure,  and  sublime  self-conscious- 
ness of  his  official  position.  Yet  how  often  do 
we  find  in  the  sacred  office  men-  who  pass 
through  year  after  year  of  sheer  ineffectiveness, 
uniform  only  in  their  lack  of  positive  traits  or 
positive  results.  This  should  never  be  the  case. 
We  care  not  what  want  of  marked  ability,  or 
what  inopportune  circumstances  there  may  be, 
a  man  of  piety  and  of  but  ordinary  faculties, 
should,  in  such  an  extraordinary  function,  be  an 
extraordinary  man ;  and  Tie  needs  but  one  addi- 
tional quality,  and  that,  as  we  have  said,  a  uni- 


136  ESSAYS    ON    THE    rREACIIING 

vei-sally  practicable  one,  to  make  him  so — ^lie 
needs  but  tliis  resolute  directness  and  consecra- 
tion of  purpose.  Let  the  unsuccessful  young 
man,  that  now,  perchance,  sits  in  his  study 
reading  these  lines,  and  desponding,  it  may 
be,  over  the  failure  of  his  course — the  declen- 
sion of  his  congregation,  the  absence  of  conver- 
sions, the  dispirited  temper  of  his  official  sup- 
porters— let  him,  upon  his  knees,  vow  that  he 
will  now,  by  the  help  of  God,  begin  his  work 
anew,  with  an  energetic  aim  at  appreciable  and 
immediate  results  ;  and  what,  if  he  persists  in 
his  resolution,  will  follow?  Wh}',  immediately 
this  new  purpose  will  change  his  own  mood 
quite  visibly :  he  will  become  inspirited,  and 
soon  all  around  him  will  catch  the  salutary 
contagion  of  his  example.  His  subjects  will 
now  be  chosen  with  more  reference  to  tlieir 
direct  impression  ;  his  illustrations,  his  whole 
train  of  thought,  his  very  words,  will  take  some- 
what of  a  new  character,  from  the  energetic 
purpose  which  sways  him,  a  puq^ose  which  he 
recognised  always,  to  be  sure,  Init  which  has 
now  become  ignited  and  luminous  in  his  soul. 
Thus  resolutely  reaching  beyond  all  factitious 
or  secondary  appliances,  and  bearing  down 
with  all  his  might  on  the  one  design  before  him, 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  137 

he  will  assuredly  become  a  mightier  man.  If 
he  is  so  naturally  destitute  of  talent,  as  not, 
even  under  such  an  impulse,  to  be  able  to  de- 
velop any  new  or  higher  ability  than  before, 
yet  will  his  small  talents,  more  earnestly  used, 
become  more  interesting  to  his  hearers.  They 
will  feel  the  power  of  his  heart,  if  not  of  his 
head.  An  earnest  character  in  a  good  cause 
can  never  fail  to  command  the  sympathy  of  the 
great  popular  heart.  Put  such  a  man  any- 
where, and  he  will  carry  with  him  the  popular 
respect,  if  not  the  popular  applause  ;  nay,  he 
will  sooner  or  later  compel  along  with  him,  to 
no  small  extent,  the  popular  cooperation,  (^an 
we  not  recall  facts  in  proof  of  these  remarks? 
How  often  have  we  known  preachers  who,  with 
very  ordinary  abilities,  were,  nevertheless,  al- 
ways received  well,  and  who  have  sometimes 
been  in  general  demand?  And  why?  The  only 
answer  is,  they  were  earnest,  hard-working  n:ieu, 
good  visitors  among  the  people,  assiduous  in  the 
Sunday-school  interest,  energetic  in  social  meet- 
ings, sympathetic  with  the  sick  and  poor :  men, 
in  a  word,  who  are  intent  on  their  one  work 
— the  rescue  of  souls. 

Whatever  then  may  be   your  talent,   rouse 
yourself,  O  man  of  God,  to  a  renewed  and  soul- 


138  ESSAYS     ON    THE     PREACniNG 

Btiiring  consciousness  of  your  high  calling.  If 
you  have  brilliant  endowments,  remember  that 
their  direct  appropriation  to  the  single  ultimate 
purpose  of  your  othce  will  only  exalt  and  im- 
prove them.  If  your  gifts  are  small,  remember 
that  yom"  graces  and  energy  need  not  be  so. 
Open  your  Bible  and  select  subjects  which  will 
lead  men  directly  to  God.  Go  into  the  pulpit 
expecting,  intensely  praying,  that  souls  may  be 
rescued  under  the  discourse  of  the  horn*;  go  into 
the  prayer-meeting  urging  the  people  unto  the 
cross ;  go  forth  into  the  streets,  not  to  idle  away 
time  with  colloquial  common-places,  or  twad- 
dling jokes,  but,  like  Paul,  to  "warn"  the 
people  "from  house  to  house  with  teare." 
Stand  out  on  the  arena  of  common  life  armed 
witli  the  directest  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  ap- 
ply them  uncompromisingly  to  every  evil, — 
every  question.  Act  thus,  and  lieaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away  rather  than  the  word  of 
God  fail  in  your  hands. 

But  is  there  no  considerable  qualification  to 
be  admitted  here  ?  Is  it  the  case  that  the  Chris- 
tian teacher  does  not  need  the  more  intlirect 
and  collateral  modes  of  labor  as  well  as  this 
I  nergetic  course  ?  The  fallacy  of  the  question 
consists  in  the  tacit  assumption  that  the  earnest, 


REQUIRED     BY     THE    TIMES.  139 

direct  aim  we  contend  for,  cannot  apply  to  such 
collateral  modes ;  and  what  is  most  deplorable 
is,  that  this  assumption  is  generally  practical,  as 
well  as  tacit.  How  common  is  it  that  doctrinal 
or  ethical  preachers  assume  a  distinctive  char- 
acter as  such,  sacriiicing  to  their  elaborateness 
or  their  apathy  the  force  that  awakens  souls  and 
quickens  the  Church !  "We  must  indeed  preach 
doctrines,  and  morals,  and  the  generalities  of 
religion,  and  we  may  do  this,  too,  with  all 
intellectual  and  literary  appliances  ;  but  a  direct 
and  even  intense  aim  at  what  we  have  called 
the  "single  ultimate  purpose"  of  our  office  may 
modify  and  thrill  with  power  all  such  topics 
and  appliances.  This  is  what  we  contend  for ; 
and  we  contend  that  the  characteristic  effective- 
ness of  our  early  preaching  consisted  in  this ; 
and  that  the  great  reason  of  the  comparative 
ineffectiveness  of  the  pulpit,  throughout  the 
world,  arises  from  the  want  of  it.* 

Another  characteristic  quite  peculiar  to  the 

*  The  late  lamented  President  Olin  was  a  notable  ex- 
ample of  such  a  union  of  effective  directness  with  all  the 
traits  and  topics  of  an  educated  preacher.  He  could 
preach  on  no  subject  without  immediate  and  profound 
effect ;  and  had  his  health  permitted,  he  would  have  stood 
forth  before  the  American  public  a  national  model  of 
pialpit  effectiveness.     But  more  respecting  him  hereafter. 


140  ESSAYS    ON    TIIK    PREACIIINO 

early  Methodist  preaching,  in  tliis  country  at 
least,  and  an  almost  necessary  counterpart  of  the 
excellences  we  have  described,  was  its  extem- 
poraneous deliverrj.  We  have  already  spoken 
with  some  emphasis,  and  yet  with  care,  wc  thinlc, 
on  this  subject.  "We  need  not  repeat  our  views 
respecting  it.  Tlie  tendency  to  a  contrary  mode 
of  preaching,  which  is  incipiently  developing 
itself  among  us,  we  deem  not  so  much  a  fatal, 
practical  heresy,  as  an  unwise  policy.  Some 
very  excellent  and  influential  brethren  encour- 
age it  by  their  exami)le,  at  least ;  we  would*  not 
give  them  provocation  by  unnecessary  severity, 
but  in  merely  alluding  to  the  subject  again,  they 
will  allow  us  to  remind  them  of  the  historical, 
the  grand  fact,  that  the  preaching  we  have  just 
described,  so  mighty  in  its  results  over  nearly  all 
this  continent,  was  never  accompanied,  per- 
haps, in  a  single  instance,  with  the  homiletic 
oaaniiscript.  Extemporaneous  preaching  was, 
until  lately,  the  universal  usage  of  our  ministry. 
It  was  more  than  this, — it  was,  as  we  have  inti- 
mated, a  necessary  characteristic  of  the  kind  of 
preaching  we  have  attril)uted  to  them.  AVe 
cannot,  indeed,  conceive  of  the  preaching  we 
have  described  as  other  than  extemporaneous. 
Reading  never  could  be  preaching,  in  this  sense, 


KEQUIKED     BY    THK    TIMES.  141 

any  more  than  the  letters  of  the  one  word  spell  the 
other.  How  those  heroic  men  conhl  have  gone 
thundering  through  the  land,  prostrating  multi- 
tudes to  the  earth,  or  melting  them  to  tears,  by 
the  reading  of  manuscripts,  is  a  problem  wliich 
'certainly  no  experiment  ever  solved,  and  no  logic 
can  show.  They  would  have  been  an  entirely 
different  class  of  men,  and  Methodism  a  quite 
different  affair,  if  they  had  been  readers  instead 
of  what  they  preeminently  were — preachers. 

We  contend  then  for  the  old  Methodist  school 
of  preaching  :  not  because  it  is  old — traditional 
authority  weighs  little  with  us ;  but  traditional 
success  docs  weigh  with  us ;  and  our  whole  de- 
nominational history  is  a  demonstration  of  the 
utility  of  extempore  preaching. 

Such  were  some  of  the  characteristic  traits 
of  the  preacliing  which  has  made  Methodism 
what  it  is  in  this  land.  "\Ye  have  not  referred 
to  the  peculiar  piety,  the  special  anointing, 
wliich  some  of  us  claim  for  our  early  ministry ; 
this,  if  not  taken  for  granted,  might  be  deemed 
invidious.  With  this  exception,  however,  the 
traits  enumerated  were,  in  our  estimation,  their 
marked  distinctions— the  right  themes,  the  right 
style,  energetic  awi  at  direct  results,  and  popu- 
lar or  extemjporaneous  addresses. 


142  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 


ESSAY  YII. 

METHODIST  PEEACHIXG— HOW  FAR  ARE  ITS  PRIMITIVE 
CHARACTERISTICS  AND  METHODS  SUITED  TO  OUR  TIMES? 

Heroic  Character  of  the  Early  Methodist  Ministry  —  Asbury  and 
his  Associates  —  The  "Old  Western  Conference"  —  The  Applica- 
bility of  the  original  Ministerial  Methods  and  Style  of  Methodism 
to  our  large  Communities — The  "City  Missionary"  and  the  old 
City  Itinerancy  —  Importance  of  the  old  Methods  to  the  Atlantic 
Communities  —  To  the  Interior  States — To  the  Western  Territo- 
ries—  The  Prospective  Population  of  the  Country  —  Startling 
Statistics. 

AVe  have  enumerated  among  the  chai'acteristics 
of  the  "Early  Methodist  Preaching"  its  extetn- 
jpore  address,  its  aim  at  direct  results,  its  style, 
and  its  topics, — the  latter  as  heing  almost  ex- 
clusively tlie  Adtal,  elementary  truths  of  revela- 
tion. Tlie  results  of  this  preaching,  as  witnessed 
throughout  our  continent,  are  proofs  of  its. 
potency  and  appropriateness  to  the  times.  It 
was  not  only  correlative  to  the  times,  hut  also 
and  especially  to  the  ecclesiastical  system  of 
Methodism — its  ministerial  methods,  its  inces- 
sant labors,  its  itinerancy,  &c.  It  was  a  product 
jointly  of  the  times  and  the  system.  While  we 
have  contended  that  its  essential  excellences 
should  be  retained,  we  liavc  admitted  that  our 
own   times   require   some    modifications   of  it. 


EEQtriKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  143 

"What  are  these  modifications?  What,  in  more 
general  terms,  should  be  the  characteristics  and 
methods  of  our  preaching  in  these  times?  This 
question  expresses,  precisely  enough,  the  subject 
of  the  ensuing  two  chapters,  extending  it  beyond 
the  homiletic  traits  enumerated,  to  the  eccle- 
siastical peculiarities  which  justified  them.  The 
current  demands  for  improvement  take  in  both, 
especially  in  our  large  cities;  and  in  examining 
these  demands  we  must  have  reference  to  both. 
To  those  who  have  read  our  preceding  chapter 
on  the  subject,  we  need  not  say  that  our  predi- 
lections for  the  "primitive  school  of  Methodist 
preaching"  are  strong:  we  shall  not  dissemble, 
that  in  admitting  the  expediency  of  its  modifica- 
tion, in  some  portions  of  the  Church,  and  in  show- 
ing wliat  that  modification  should  be,  we  shall 
be  as  much  inclined  to  guard  its  old  honor  and 
excellences  as  to  concede  to  \X\q  proposed  im- 
provements. We  shall  attempt  rather  to  show 
the  limits  than  the  urgency  of  the  latter.  A^e 
confess  a  conviction  of  the  importance  of  some 
of  these  improvements,  and  yet  no  little  jealousy 
of  them;  and  our  ensuing  remarks  will  show 
the  influence  of  both  sentiments — 'perhaps  in  a 
juster  appreciation  of  the  subject  than  we  could 
otherwise  entertain. 


144  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

The  recency  of  the  imtion,  tlie  wide  disper- 
sion of  its  population,  the  necessarily  long  joiir- 
nies  of  onr  early  preachers,  and  the  absence  of 
thoroughly  organized  or  permanent  congrega- 
tions, except  in  few  places,  led  them  to  confine 
their  discourses  to  comparatively  few  topics ; 
these,  as  we  have  said,  were  the  most  essential, 
the  vital  truths  of  the  Gospel,  answering  sum- 
marily the  question,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be 
saved?"  They  entered  a  town  or  village, 
"sounded  the  alarm,"  held  u])  the  cross,  and 
were  gone.  They  were  wise  in  this  course — ■ 
that  v\diicli  was  most  needed  was  said,  though 
many  things  were  left  unsaid.  They  were  driv- 
ing, in  all  haste,  the  plowshare  through  the 
fallov/  ground,  and  scattering  broadcast  the 
good  seed ;  the  time  for  minuter  work  in  the 
field — for  dressing  and  gathering  the  crop — •. 
would  come  they  knew,  and  God  wo^^ld  mean- 
while, they  believed,  raise  up  appropriate  labor- 
ers for  that  necessity.  They  were  the  Lcgio 
Fulminea — the  "Thundering  Legion,"  whose 
duty  it  was  to  break  and  scatter  the  ranks  of 
the  enemy,  and  to  pursue  and  shout  onward  iu 
the  rout,  scaling  ramparts,  penetrating  fast- 
nesses, but  leaving  the  spoils  of  the  conquered 
field  to  the  "reserve"  which  were  yet  in  the 


REQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  145 

distance.  The  latter  have  come  up  ;  they  have 
gathered  the  trophies,  and  now  devolves  upon 
us  the  task  of  defining  the  conquered  territory, 
of  fortifying  it  against  future  losses,  of  dividing, 
subdividing,  and  rightly  governing  its  pro- 
vinces. 

There  is  not  mere  rhetoric,  but  historic  truth- 
fulness in  this  view  of  tlie  heroic  mission  of  our 
primitive  ministry.  At  the  risk  of  a  slight  but 
not  irrelevant  digression,  let  us  glance  here  a 
little  further  at  its  character,  for  its  character  is 
no  insignificant  illustration  of  its  preaching.  In 
all  sober-mindedness  we  do  not  believe  its  chiv- 
alry, and  even  romance,  are  rivaled  in  modem 
history,  at  least  since  the  days  of  the  Crusades. 
These  stalwart  evangelists  were  abroad,  thun- 
dering through  the  land,  when  the  storms  of  the 
Revolution  were  coming  on,  and  while  they 
were  bursting  over  the  country.  Those  who 
know  intimately  the  early  Methodist  history, 
will  doubt  whether  "Washington  and  the  sans 
culottes  army  of  Yalley  Forge  endured  more 
hardships,  or  exhibited  more  heroic  characteris- 
tics than  Asbury  and  his  invincible  itinerant 
cohorts.  Asbury  himself  exceeded  Wesley  in 
his  annual  travels.     His  tour  almost. yearly  was 

ft'om  Maine  to  Georgia,   by  way  of  the  West, 
10 


146  ESSAYS     ON    TUE     PREACHING 

when  a  few  log  cabins  only  dotted  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, and  Tennessee  ;  when  not  one  Methodist 
chapel,  if  indeed  any  other  Protestant  church, 
was  to  be  seen  beyond  the  Alleghanies;  and 
when  he  had  to  be  escorted  from  one  settlement 
or  fortified  post  to  another  by  armed  men.  He 
averaged  six  thousand  miles  a  year,  mostly  on 
horseback,  on  recent  roads  or  through  forests. 
During  forty-five  years  of  ministerial  labor  in 
this  country  his  travels  were  equal  to  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  globe  every  four  years !  And 
yet  this  glorious  old  bishop,  who  ordained  more 
men  to  the  ministry  than  any  prelatical  bench 
of  the  nation,*  and  who,  in  his  pei-sonal  traits 
and  achievements,  as  well  as  the  later  results 
of  his  labors,  is  unquestionably  the  first  ecclesi- 
astical personage  in  the  American  annals,  has 
never  yet  been  naTned  in  any  of  our  national  his- 
tories, and  probably  has  not  been  known  to  our 
Ramsays,  Bancrofts,  Hildreths,  or  Goodriches. 
And  he  \vas  but  a  representative  of  the  itin- 
erant ministry  of  that  day.  Tliose  great  times 
produced  such  great  men  as  Lee,  who  journeyed 

*  He  presided  in  224  Annual  Conferences,  and  conse- 
crated 4,000  ordinations.  He  began  his  labors  Avith  600 
members  in  tlie  American  Methodist  Church,  and  fell  at 
last  at  the  head  of  212,000,  who  have  since  multiplied  to 
1,400,000. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  147 

with  two  horses,  one  for  a  relay  when  the  other 
should  be  fatigued;  Pickering,  with  a  district 
that  swept  from  the  extremity  of  Cape  Cod, 
around  to  the  center  of  Yermont;  Hedding, 
traveling  through  the  storms  of  winter,  from 
Long  Island  Sound  to  the  Canada  line ;  Soule, 
braving  the  Borean  terrors  of  the  Maine  forests ; 
Bangs,  Coate,  Wooster,  Sawyer,  Dunham,  Cole- 
man, traversing  the  wildernesses  of  Canada ; 
M'Coombs,  Merwin,  Eoszel,  Sharp,  Boehm, 
Wells,  Cooper,  Garrettson,  Mills,  Smith,  and 
hundreds  of  others,  who  incessantly  went  to  and 
fro  "crying  aloud  and  sj)aring  not,"  through  the 
Middle  States ;  Dunwody,  Peirce,  Dougherty, 
Kennedy,  Capers,  and  many  others,  equally 
noble,  the  heroes  of  Southern  Methodism.  And 
then  there  were  the  staunch  men  of  oak,  the 
sons  of  thunder,  in  the  West,  M'Kendree,  Ro- 
berts, Young,  Blackman,  Burke,  Larkin,  Quin, 
Finley,  Cartwright,  Collins,  &c.,  the  leaders  of 
the  memorable  old  "Western  Conference,"  when 
it  was  the  only  one  beyond  the  mountains — • 
when  it  reached  from  Detroit  to  JS^atches,  and 
each  of  its  districts  comprised  about  two  of  the 
modern  Western  Conferences.  Alas  for  the  man 
whose  heart  does  not  palpitate-  at  the  contem- 
plation of  such  men,  and  such  indomitable  ener- 


148  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

gy !  Tlieii-s  -was  a  hardihood,  a.  heroism  which 
old  Sparta  would  have  applauded  with  the  clash 
of  her  shields  as  eymhals.  Tlie  success  of  Metli- 
odism  has  often  heen  referred  to  as  a  marvel — a 
knowledge  of  the  men  who  composed  its  fii-st 
ministiy  explains  the  mystery. 

Our  history — not  merely  our  Church  history, 
but  our  national  history — has  an  obligation  yet 
to  discharge  toward  these  men.  They  laid  the 
moral  foundations*  of  most  of  the  American 
States.  Tlicy  marched  in  the  van  of  emigration 
bearing  aloi't  the  cross,  and  they  were  almost  its 
only  standard-bearers  throughout  the  lirst  and 
most  trying  period  of  our  ultramontane  history. 
"When  the  tide  of  population  began  to  sweep 
down  the  Western  declivities  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  and  during  the  forming  period  of  the  states 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  they  were  in  motion 
everywhere,  evangelizing  tlic  rude  masses,  and 
averting  barbarism  from  the  land.  Let  us  not 
be  accused  of  extravagant  eulogy  in  this  passing 
reference  to  their  merits — so  long  ignored  by 
our  historical  writei^s. 

Such  were  the  men,  such  the  circumstances 
of  our  first  ministry.  And  under  such  circum- 
stances it  was  wise,  we  repeat,  to  limit,  as  they 
did,  the   range   of  their  y)ulpit   instruction   to 


KEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  149 

those  topics  which  were  most  adapted  to  the 
immediate  salvation  of  their  hearers.  Beyond 
these  topics  they  did  occasionally  venture,  as  we 
have  admitted,  but  in  very  restricted  excur- 
sions ;  in  sallies  against  some  of  the  polemical 
dogmas  of  the  day,  Calvinism  especially,  or  in 
defense  of  some  of  the  important  practical  ordi- 
nances of  the  Gospel ;  their  preaching,  however, 
consisted  of  few  though  powerful  sermons,  and 
aggregately,  of  the  truths  which  relate  to  per- 
sonal conversion. 

These  truths  we  must  continue  to  reiterate, 
but  not  so  exclusively  as  did  our  lathers.  Inevit- 
able circumstances — nay,  very  salutary  circum- 
stances— have  intervened,  and  require  of  us  a 
greater  amplitude  and  detail  of  religious  instruc- 
tion, in  the  older  sections  of  the  country  at  least. 
Our  cause  has  consolidated.  There  is  scarcely 
a  town  or  village  in  the  denser  sections  of  the 
nation  where  the  Methodist  chapel  does  not  ap- 
pear. Nearly  all  our  church  edifices  in  the 
Atlantic  States  have  been  erected  or  renovated 
within  twenty-five  years;*  they  contain  now 
stated  congi'egations  and  thoroughly  organized 
societies,    who,   habitually    assembling    Avithin 

*  This  lias  been  a  work  of  vast  enterprise  and  expcAdi- 
tuve ;  could  its  statistics  be  presented,  we  doubt  not  they 


150  ESSAYS     ON    THE    PREACHING 

their  walls,  cannot  be  edified,  ninch  less  satis- 
fied, witli  repetitious  exhortations  on  obvious  or 
familiar  topics.  The  preciousness  of  such  topics 
will  redeem  them,  to  a  great  extent,  from  the 
defects  of  the  preacher;  but  there  may  be  an 
intolerable  excess  of  a  good  thing.  Men  cannot 
subsist  on  honey  or  milk,  but  need  other,  though 
it  be  inferior,  nourishment.  A  man  can  live 
better  habitually  on  the  varied  constituents  of 
the  potato  tlian  on  pure  wheat.  The  axe  may 
be  necessary  to  fell  the  forest  or  cleave  the 
rough  mass,  but  more  delicate  and  varied  imple- 
ments are  needed  to  work  it  into  useful  wares. 
Still  the  glory  of  the  primitive  school  of  Meth- 
odist preaching  has  not  yet  dej^arted;  its  day, 
its  necessity  still  exist,  and  must  continue  to 
exist  on  our  own  continent/br  generations. 

First.  It  is  needed  still  to  no  inconsiderable 
extent  in  our  Atlantic  communities.  Our  old 
and  mature  Churches  may  require  the  proposed 
improvements,  but  all  around  them  are  moral 
wastes,  which,  instead  of  being  recovered,  are 
absolutely  growing  more  desolate  year  by  year. 

would  exhibit  the  liberality  of  the  denomination  in  a  strik- 
ing light,  and  relieve  greatly  the  unfavorable  comparison 
sometimes  made  between  its  other  philanthropic  contribu- 
tions and  those  of  sister  sects. 


EEQTJIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  151 

Let  US  not  think,  then,  that  we  require  in  our  large 
cities  only  educated  and  polished  preachers  and 
restricted  modes  of  labor  ;  these  we  must  have, 
but  we  yet  need  there,  as  much  if  not  more 
than  in  the  first  days  of  Methodism,  voices 
"  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way 
of  the  Lord" — men  who  will  "circuit"  these 
cities  as  did  our  fathers,  and,  like  them,  preach 
continually  and  powerfully  the  primary  truths 
of  religion  among  the  neglected  populace. 

We  would  emphasize  the  assertion,  for  there 
is,  we  fear,  a  tendency  to  a  very  opposite  opin- 
ion. The  City  Mission  is  a  happy  idea  of  the 
times,  especially  as  an  adjunct  of  a  local  pas- 
torate ;  but  we  do  not  consider  it,  as  usually 
conducted,  an  appropriate  appendage '  to  .our 
own  system,  or  anything  like  an  adequate  sub- 
stitute for  our  old  city  itinerancy.  Our  first 
preachers  did,  in  cities,  precisely  the  work  which 
city  missionaries  now  do,  and  with  how  much 
greater  success !  All  our  urban  Methodism 
sprang  from  their  labors.  They  erected  their 
first  batteries  in  the  neglected  and  impoverished 
localities.  They  gathered  converts  into  their 
small  bands,  without  the  invidious  association 
of  a  "  mission  to  the  poor."  They  offered  them- 
selves to  the  poor ;  the  poor  virtually,  though 


152  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

informally,  accepted  tliem  as  their  chosen  pas- 
tors, and  spontaneously  formed  a  tacit  contract, 
a  self-respectful  habit  of  supporting  them. 
These  first  "  city  missions "  are  now  become 
wealthy  and  intelligent  "  city  stations,"  and  re- 
quire indeed  a  modified  ministerial  treatment ; 
but  if  the  field  for  such  labors  remains — nay,  is 
tenfold  more  ample  and  urgent — why  is  not  the 
old  ministerial  apparatus,  with  all  its  powerful 
attributes,  as  appropriate  as  ever?  Where  is 
the  reason  for  a  change  ?  not  assuredly  in  tlie 
moral  condition  of  our  suburban  masses ;  not  in 
the  necessity  of  a  different  ministerial  regimen, 
for  certainly  none  coiild  be  more  appropriate 
than  the  pastoral  methods  of  our  fathers.  All 
the  original  conditions  of  Method Ist  ininisterial 
labor  exist,  we  assert,  in  our  present  large  coni- 
Tnunities,  only  vastly  augmented.  What  then, 
we  again  ask,  has  occasioned  the  change  in  our 
ministerial  treatment  of  the  poor  ?  What  else 
than  the  illusion  which  has  come  over  us  with 
our  growing  prosperity,  that  because  our 
Churches,  originally  founded  among  the  poor, 
have  outgrown  their  first  humble  spheres,  there- 
fore Methodism  has  necessarily  changed  its  rela- 
tive position  to  the  destitute  populace ;  that  it 
must  now  look  chioflv  after  tlic  comfort  and  in- 


EEQTJIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  153 

telligent  treatment  of  its  well-housed  children, 
and  send  ont  only  an  occasional  messenger  to 
pick  up  the  foundlings  of  the  highway  and  con- 
vey them  into  a  neighboring  shelter  ycleped  "a 
city  mission  chapel."  This  is  not  right ;  this  is 
recreance  to  the  old  chivalric  honor  of  our  min- 
istry—it is  recreance  to  the  honor  of  our  Master 
in  heaven. 

The  figure,  like  most  figures,  may  be  some- 
what an  hyperbole,  for  thanks  be  to  God,  we 
still  to  a  great  extent  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
poor ;  but  is  not  this  change  coming  over  us  ? 
Is  it  not  one  of  the  most  serious  liabilities  of  our 
cause  ?  While  our  intelligent  city  Churches  are 
demanding  a  diiferent  class  of  preachers  and  an 
improved  style  of  preaching,  and  also  import- 
ant changes  in  our  ministerial  methods,  let  them 
be  reminded  that  the  vast  destitute  masses  around 
them  require  still  the  old  methods,  the  old  class 
of  preachers  and  preaching — that  none,  since 
the  apostolic  missionaries,  could  more  precisely 
meet  their  deplorable  necessities. 

The  Legio  Fidminea,  whose  task  we  said  it 
was  to  break  the  ranks  and  take  the  ramparts 
of  the  enemy,  are,  then,  still  needed  even  here 
in  our  cities,  where  our  own  fortifications  dis- 
play their  completed  proportions  and  victorious 


154  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

flags;  for  even  here  many  a  hostile  fortress 
stands  in  juxtaposition  with  our  defenses ;  the 
very  citadel  is  yet  in  possession  of  the  foe,  in 
most  of  our  large  cities,  and  the  circumvalla- 
tions — the  subui'bs — are  crowded  with  his  forces. 
We  assert,  and  wouj^  assert  it  over  and  over 
again,  that  all  these  demoralized  regions  should 
be  invaded  by  "  Itinerant  Methodist  Preachers," 
as  the  cities  were  at  first.  Methodist  families 
would  be  found  scattered  among  them,  as  then ; 
these  wovild  take  in  the  evangelist  and  open 
their  doors  for  preaching,  as  then ;  converts 
would  multiply,  as  then ;  lay  assistants  would 
rise  up,  classes  and  societies  would  be  formed, 
and  these  would  grow  into  self-supporting- 
Churches,  as  then.  Why  not?  Is  there  any 
imaginable  reason  why  not  now  as  well  as  then  ? 
And  is  there  not  for  such  labors  now  a  great 
vantage  ground,  which  our  fathers  had  not,  in 
the  aid  which  our  existing  Churches  can  afford 
them  ? 

The  above  has  been  the  historical  process  of 
Methodism  from  the  beginning — it  is  the  process 
of  its  present  success  in  its  foreign  mission  helds, 
and  is  precisely  what  is  needed  in  tliis  its  do- 
mestic missionary  work.  An  English  friend, 
who   is  fomiliar  with   the  Wesloyan  Missions, 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  155 

gives,  in  a  communication  to  the  writer,  the 
following  summary  view  of  their  modus  op- 
erandi : — 

"  As  soon  as  any  number  of  his  hearers  '  re- 
ceive the  truth  in  the  love  of  it,'  our  missionary 
unites  them  into  a  '  class '  under  the  care  of  a 
'  leader.'  And  thus  the  hedge  of  discipline  is 
placed  round  this  cultured  spot,  and  assistance 
and  sympathy  given  to  these  '  babes  in  Christ.' 
The  pastoral  care  is  divided  with  these  leaders, 
who  watch  over  the  little  flocks  in  the  absence 
of  the  missionary.  Then,  as  soon  as  divine 
grace  has  drawn  forth  and  sanctified  the  abilities 
of  his  converts,  the  missionary  finds  out  who 
among  them  have  an  aptitude  for  exhortation ; 
he  licenses  them  to  '  exhort ;'  afterward,  if  they 
improve,  to  '  preach ;' then  a  'circuit  plan'  is 
formed,  a  place  provided  where  a  congregation 
can  meet  on  the  Sabbath,  and  there  this  '  na- 
tive preacher'  in  his  turn,  'of  the  ability  Avhich 
God  giveth,'  speaks  to  the  people  '  all  the 
words  of  this  life.'  Such  preachers  multiply 
and  improve,  while  the  missionary  directs  their 
studies,  and  oversees  the  whole  machinery — • 
preachers,  leaders,  classes,  schools,  prayer  meet- 
ings, &c.,  until  often  such  circuits  rise,  lik^ 
those  in  the  Friendly  Isles,  Africa,  &c.,  to  have 


156  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACniNG 

twenty  or  thirty  cliapels,  and  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred 'local  ministers.'  Some  of  these  chapels, 
too,  are  able  to  accommodate  from  one  thousand 
five  hundred  to  two  thousand  persons ;  most  of 
them  are  well  filled,  and  some  of  them  are 
crowded.  Of  the  eight  thousand  two  hundred 
and  twenty-six  '  assistants,'  there  are  only  eight 
hundred  and  forty-three  who  are  salaried,  and 
these  give  their  whole  time  to  the  work,  as  cate- 
chists,  school  teachers,  &c.  The  rest  being 
chiefly  local  preachers,  interpreters,  etc.,  give 
their  services  gratuitously."* 

jSTow  this,  we  affirm,  has  been  tlie  universal 
process  of  Methodism  until  witliin  a  few  years ; 
and  what  we  complain  of  is,  that  the  Churches 
founded  by  precisely  such  means  are,  now  that 
they  have  become  isolated  and  self-supporting, 
generally  rejjudiating  this  eft'ective  plan  as. 
obsolete,  though  all  their  adjacent  fields — ■ 
nay,  the  very  interjacent  fields — often,  in- 
deed, their  immediate  precincts — demand  just 
such  energetic  labors,  and  demand  them,  in 
most  of  our  large  cities,  7nore  urgently  than  ever 
hefore.  "Exhorters"  are  hardly  known  among 
us  any  more;  the  "Local  Ministry"  is  falling 

*  Rev.  "William  pjiitlcr,  now  of  New-En^laiul  Confer- 
ence. 


EEQUIKED     BY     THE     TIMES.  157 

into  comparative  disuse;  "Itinerancy"  in  our 
cities  is  being  abandoned :  meanwhile,  the  pop- 
ulace are  perishing  in  their  moral  destitu- 
tion, and  we  obtrude  uj)on  them  an  occasional 
"  city  missionary "  as  an  apology  for  the  sacri- 
fice of  our  once  powerful  and  still  needed 
methods. 

We  contend,  then,  that  whatever  improve- 
ments we  may  propose  in  our  standard  of 
ministerial  qualification  and  modes  of  minis- 
terial labor,  we  should  still  have,  even  here  in 
our  ripest  fields,  a  large  proportion  of  just  such 
labors  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit  as  pertained  to 
the  first*  school  of  Methodist  preachers — its 
same  summary  themes,  the  same  direct  style,  ad 
populum^  the  same  aim  at  immediate  results, 
the  same  eftective  methods. 

Second.  We  shall  still  need  them  also,  to  a 
great  extent,  in  that  large  field,  the  "  Provincias 
Internas^^  of  our  territory,  lying  between  the 
Atlantic  margin  and  the  later  settlements  of  the 
West,  w^here  the  "circuit  system"  is  not  yet 
generally  broken  into  stations.  Throughout  this 
vast  region  Methodism  is  flourishing,  and  will,  in 
less  than  twenty-five  years,  be  consolidated  into 
great  strength.  Its  ministry  is  now  improving, 
but  might  still  faster  improve,  as  the  increasing 


158  ESSAYS    ON     TIIK     PREACHINlG 

supply  of  candidates  allows  a  more  discriminat- 
ing choice.  Taking  it  as  a  whole,  it  is  the 
noblest  sphere  for  the  advancement  of  both  our 
Ministry  and  Churches  now  occupied  by  us ;  but 
oiir  primitive  ministerial  cliaracteristics  and 
methods  are  still  appropriate  to  it,  and  could 
not  advantageously  be  modified,  except  by  such 
improvements  as  should  not  essentially  change 
them. 

Third.  The  vast  unsettled  portions  of  the 
continent  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific, 
and  from  the  (ireat  Slave  Lake  to  the  Gulf  of 
California,  will  aftbrd  them  a  magnificent  theater 
during  as  long  a  period,  at  least,  as  tlift  Church 
has  yet  recorded  in  its  annals. 

We  must  be  permitted  to  delay  on  this  part 
of  our  subject,  though  in  no  wise  proportionately 
to  its  importance. 

There  are  several  considerations  respecting 
the  settlement  of  this  grand  area  which  should 
be  borue  in  mind.  The  population  which  is 
to  flood  it,  and  is  now  jiouring  into  it,  will  be 
TTbore  largely  foreign  than  were  the  earlier  migra- 
tions of  the  country.  A  very  considerable  pro- 
portion of  the  first  settlers  in  the  new  territories 
were  from  the  older  states,  and  they  carried 
with  them  better  notions  of  religion  and  morals 


REQUIRED     BY    THE    TIMES.  159 

than  come  to  lis  now  from  Em-ope.  He  must 
be  of  dull  vision  who  does  not  see  the  moral 
liabilities  to  the  nation  which  must  arise  from 
this  transposition  of  demoralized  European  mass- 
es into  the  almost  boundless  region  mentioned. 
More  than  half  of  the  continent  is  now,  and 
quite  suddenly,  opening  into  a  stupendous 
moral  battle-field,  and  men,  as  mighty  as 
those  we  have  described,  are  needed  for  the 
conflict. 

Again:  this  population  will,  for  some  years, 
probably  be  as  much,  if  not  more  disjpersed  than 
were  the  earlier  emigrations,  and  will  therefore 
require  our  primitive  ministerial  modes  of  ener- 
getic labor ^  and  esjjecially  of  travel,  to  supply  it. 
It  no  longer  maintains  a  frontier  margin,  contin- 
ually thickening  though  extending,  but  throws 
itself  into  detached  positions,  anywhere  and 
everywhere,  so  it  but  finds  local  attractions. 
The  north-west  territories,  the  Great  Salt  Lake, 
Texas,  New-Mexico,  Oregon,  California — these 
are  its  diverse  resorts.  The  whole  western  extent 
of  the  continent  is  in  fine  thrown  open,  the  last 
barrier  has  fallen,*  and  the  European  masses  are 

*  The  greatest  impediment,  the  prepossession  of  the 
ground  by  the  Indians,  may  be  said  to  be  about  removed. 
There  are  now  about  418,000  in  all  our  limits;  most  of 


160  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACHING 

entering  it  with  a  rush.  Our  "  Itinerants  "  must, 
in  old  style,  with  lioi-se  and  saddle-bags,  rush  on 
with  them,  mingling  in  the  mighty  mel^e,  and 
bearing  up,  in  its  very  front,  the  ensign  of  the 
cross. 

Were  these  stupendous  migrations  to  be  more 
consolidated,  some  formidable  moral  conse- 
quences would  result,  but  they  would  be  more 
accessible  to  our  moral  agencies.  Coincident, 
however,  with  the  accessions  to  our  population 
have  been  the  extensions  of  our  territorial  area, 
and  the  coming  multitudes  are  still  to  be  scat- 
tered, as  have  been  the  preceding  hordes.  In 
1790  the  number  of  persons  to  the  square  mile 
in  the  United  States  was  nine;  twenty  years 
later  it  was  precisely  the  same,  though  the  ag- 
gregate population  had  increased  from  five  mill- 
ions to  more  than  seven.  In  1840,  we  had  four- 
teen to  the  square  mile,  but  the  ratio  had  dimin- 
ished to  twelve — a  gain  of  only  three  since  1790. 
By  1850  the  ratio  had  fallen  still  lower — to  seven 
and  twenty-two  liundredths — giving  one  and 
three-quartei"s  less  to  the  square  mile  than  in 
1790!     And  can  we  predict  that  this  coincident 

these  are  tlie  enervated  aborigines  of  our  Pacific  and 
Mexican  domains;  tlie  estimated  number  inhabiting  our 
"  unexplored  territories"  is  but  80,000. 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  161 

extension  of  tenitoiy  and  jjeople  will  not  con- 
tinue, thus  giving  a  general  dispersion  to  our 
population,  and  an  almost  indefinite  missionary 
field  for  the  Christian  energies  of  the  country? 

They  mistake  egregiously  who  think  the  prim- 
itive ministerial  system  of  Methodism  is  done 
with  in  this  country :  there  is  at  this  hour  open- 
ing a  larger  field  for  it  than  ever.  "While  we 
contend  for  modifications  in  the  consolidated 
portion  of  the  Clmrch,  in  order  to  adapt  them  to 
the  greatest  effectiveness  there,  we  afiirm,  and 
we  mean  literally  what  we  afiirm,  that  they 
have  not  yet  done  one-half  their  allotted  work  in 
the  land. 

Further:  while  this  new  population  will  be 
more  entirely  foreign.,  and  from  the  amplitude 
of  the  area  and  freer  access  to  it,  more  disjjersed, 
it  will  also  be  vastly  more  multitudinous  than 
our  innnigrations  have  heretofore  been.  All 
possible  obstructions,  whether  of  a  political  or 
any  other  character,  must  necessarily  be  but 
temporary.  It  is  sublime,  we  were  about  to  say, 
appalling — this  amazing  growth  of  a  nation — 
this  exodus  of  the  European  peoples  into  our 
mighty  wildernesses.  We  could  once  estimate 
somewhat  its  ratios,  but  now  it  almost  defies  ©•ur 
calculations.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  ascer- 
11 


162  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

tained  that  our  western  frontier  line  moved  on- 
ward at  the  rate  of  about  thirteen  miles  a  year; 
and  this  march  of  a  nation — extending  from  the 
Northern  Lakes  to  the  Mexican  Gulf — bearing 
with  it  all  the  ensigns  of  civilization  and  liberty 
— felling  the  forest,  dispelling  at  every  step 
actual  aboriginal  barbarism,  planting  fields, 
building  cities,  erecting  temples  and  schools, 
constructing  canals  and  roads  of  iron — was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  sublimest  spectacles  in  the 
history  of  man ;  but  now  the  line  of  march  is 
broken,  as  we  have  said,  into  detached  columns 
which  have  taken  the  extreme  points  of  the  tield, 
and  the  evercoming  accessions  observe  no  rules 
of  progression.  What  practicable  Christian 
agencies  can  meet  the  wants  of  these  foreign 
hosts  ?  Can  we  think  for  a  moment  of  abandon- 
ing in  this  vast  region  any  of  the  effective  appa- 
ratus of  Methodism,  under  such  circumstances? 
It  has  been  estimated  that  during  the  current 
decade  there  will  be  introduced  into  the  AVest  a 
foreign  population  eqnal  to  the  whole  present  pop- 
ulation of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  AVisconsin. 
Tlie  thoughtful  man,  who  reminds  himself  of  the 
ignorance  and  moral  corruption  of  these  Eurojtean 
hordes,  can  hardly  suppose  that  the  better  moral 
characteristics  of  the  nation,  already  sadly  degen- 


REQUIRED     BY    THE    TIMES.  163 

erating,  can  survive  the  contagion  of  sucli  over- 
wlielming  vice,  or  tlie  better  institutions  of  the 
republic  withstand  such  a  flood  of  semi-barbar- 
ism. One  thing  we  must  be  sure  of,  viz. : — that 
every  moral  resource  at  our  command  will  be 
needed  to  maintain,  in  its  present  relative  status, 
the  moral  and  intellectual  position  of  the  country. 
It  is  to  the  "West,  we  say,  that  this  overwhelm- 
ing flood  sweeps,  and  thither  moves  with  it  the 
power  of  the  nation — the  political  forces  which 
will  take  their  moral  character  from  these  multi- 
tudes, and  impart  it  to  us  all.  The  center  of  re- 
presentative population  is  continually  tending 
westward.  In  1Y90  it  was  twenty-two  miles 
east  of  Washington ;  it  has  never  been  east  of 
the  national  metropolis  since,  and  never  can  be 
again.  At  the  census  of  1800  it  had  been 
transferred  to  thirty  miles  west  of  Washington ; 
in  1820  it  was  seventy-one  miles  west  of  that 
city ;  in  1830  one  hundred  and  eight  miles. 
Its  westward  movement  from  1830  to  1810  was 
no  less  than  fifty-two  miles — more  than  five 
miles  a  year.  It  is  now  probably  in  Ohio. 
During  about  fifty  yeai*s  it  has  kept  nearly  the 
same  parallel  of  latitude,  having  deviated  only 
about  ten  miles  south,  while  it  has  advanced 
about  two  hundred  miles  west.     Thus  move  the 


164  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACHING 

political  destinies  of  the  country  into  what  we 
have  described  as  the  arena  of  its  moral  and  re- 
ligious conflicts. 

With  this  territorial  enlargement  and  in- 
creased accessions  of  European  population, 
the  national  population,  indigenous  and  for- 
eign, is  destined  to  swell  into  aggregate 
magnitudes  truly  amazing — magnitudes  which 
it  would  seem  must  hopelessly  transcend  any 
moral  provision  we  can  make  for  them.  If 
the  ratios  of  our  increase  hitherto  can  be  relied 
on,  the  population  of  the  United  States  will  be 
in  1900,  more  than  one  liundred  millions, — ex- 
ceeding the  whole  present  population  of  England, 
France,  Switzerland,  Spain,  Portugal,  Sweden, 
and  Denmark.  A  step  further  in  the  calcula- 
tion presents  a  prospect  still  more  surprising: 
by  1930 — only  seventy-five  years  hence — this 
mighty  mass  of  commingled  races  will  have 
swollen  to  the  stupendous  aggregate  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-six  millions,  equaling  the  pres- 
ent population  of  all  Europe.  According  to  the 
statistics  of  life,  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  our  present  population — one  twenty-ninth  at 
least — who  will  witness  this  result. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  restrain  the  pen  from 
uttering  the  spontaneous  and  overwheluiing  re- 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  165 

flections  wliicli  these  statistics  suggest ;  but  we 
leave  them  in  their  own  naked  yet  startling 
significance. 

Such,  then,  according  to  the  mathematics  of 
the  argument,  is  the  domestic  field  of  evangelic 
labor  opening  before  us.  These  calculations 
have  no  episodical  irrelevancy  here.  We  have 
chosen  to  present  them,  as  far  more  relevant  than 
general  remarks.  They  sustain  with  startling 
force  our  position,  that  the  energetic  "itinerant" 
methods  of  our  early  ministry — its  methods  in 
the  pulpit  and  out  of  it — are  still  needed ;  that 
there  is  a  larger  field  for  them  now  in  our  own 
country  than  there  ever  has  been.  We  shall 
need,  for  generations,  Circuits  and  Districts,  and 
stout-hearted  and  staunch-bodied  men  to  travel 
them ;  and  let  those  who  think  they  see  the  ex- 
pediency of  amending  our  system,  in  respect  to 
"Itinerancy,"  "the  Presiding  Eldership,"  &c.,  to 
suit  it  to  our  denser  communities,  (an  ex- 
pediency we  are  not  disposed  to  deny,)  be  re- 
minded that  they  should  so  direct  their  efforts 
as  to  meet  a  comparatively  local  want  without 
inflicting  a  general  disaster.*     We  have  so  often 

*  We  believe  our  ecclesiastical  system  is  capable  of  such 
local  accommodations  Avithout  injury  to  its  general  harmony. 
The  chief  difficulty  in  the  way  of  desirable  improvements 


166  ESSAYS     ON     THE     PREACHING 

drawn  this  admonitoiy  inference  in  the  com'se 
of  these  remarks,  that  doubtless  the  reader 
thinks  it  sufficiently  reiterated,  but  it  presents 
itself  to  our  attention  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
foregoing  statistics,  with  peculiar  ini^Jressive- 
ness.  We  deem  it  the  capital  lesson  of  our 
cause  at  this  moment.  Ideas  of  innovation  are 
becoming  rife  among  us ;  many  of  them  are 
wise,  the  true  signs  of  healthy  progress,  and  few 
men  have  affirmed  them  more  decidedly  than 
the  writer  of  these  pages ;  but  with  them  seems 
generally  entertained  a  vague,  and,  as  we  have 
shown,  most  fallacious  impression,  that  the 
primitive  ministerial  style  and  system  of  Meth- 
odism is  fast  becoming  incompatible  with  the 
wants  of  the  times — ^that  its  day  is  about  past. 
It  is  all-important  that  this  impression  should  be 
rightly  qualified,  that  especially  our  intelligent 
and  influential  members  in  the  older  states,  who 
can  appreciate  Methodism  in  its  general  capa- 
cities, as  well  as  in  its  local  success,  should  be 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  it  has  been 
thus  far  but  cqyproximating  its  providential  mis- 
sion, and  that  the  grandeur  of  its  general 
designs  may  still  merit  almost  any  local  incon- 

among  us  is  our  fear  of  them.  Our  fathers  adapted  the 
system  to  their  times :  we  lack  their  courage. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  167 

veniences.  The  statistical  arguments  we  have 
presented  cannot  fail,  if  examined,  to  arrest  the 
attention  of  the  Church,  and  to  convince  it  that 
it  may  still  move  on  in  its  old  triumphant  march 
to  new  and  grander  fields  of  conflict,  and  that 
all  its  faithful  adherents  should  still  be  willing 
to  make  magnanimous  sacrifices  for  its  success. 
It  can  well,  however,  be  admitted,  that  some 
of  the  desired  modifications,  both  of  its  ecclesi- 
astical system  and  its  homiletic  character,  may 
be  made ;  and  having  now  accomplished  what 
we  proposed,  as  a  chief  design  of  this  chapter, 
viz.,  "to  show  rather  the  limits  than  the  urgency 
of  such  changes,"  we  proceed  to  admit  and  state 
some  of  the  homiletic  improvements  demanded. 


168  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 


ESSAY   YIIL 

METHODIST  PREACHING— WHAT  MODIFICATIONS  OF  IT  AEE 
EEQUIRED  BY  THE  TIMES? 

A  larger  Range  of  Practical  Instruction  needed  — Reasons  for  it  — 
More  Doctrinal  Instruction  required  —  The  Philanthropic  Enter- 

•  prises  of  the  Church  not  sufficiently  represented  in  the  Pulpit  — 
Special  Addresses  —  Public  Questions  —  Such  Improvements  of 
our  Preaching  requires  the  Improvement  of  our  Preachers  —  Means 
for  the  Latter  —  Better  Choice  of  Candidates  —  Our  Supply  — 
Enormous  Sacrifice  of  Young  Men — A  Reserve  List  needed  — 
Preparatory  "Course  of  Study"  —  An  "Educational  Society''  — 
Theological  Schools. 

We  have  admitted  that  the  times  require,  espe- 
cially in  the  older  sections  of  the  Cliurch,  more 
varied iwcacldng  than  was  common  in  our  early 
ministry. 

First.  It  should  be  varied  by  a  larger  range 
of  practical  instructioii.  If  we  except  some  of 
the  main  points  of  practical  divinity,  the  Meth- 
odist pulpit  will,  M'e  think,  be  found  more  de- 
ficient in  this  respect,  than  any  other  evan- 
gelical ministry  in  the  land.  This  is  a  quite 
explicit  remark,  we  know,  and  may  be  an  at- 
tractive target  for  animadversions,  but  we 
nevertheless  affirm  it.  Let  it  be  observed,  how- 
ever, that  it  refei*?*  not  so  much  to  the  import- 


EEQUIKED     BY    THE    TIMES.  169 

ance  as  to  the  variety  of  our  practical  preacliing. 
Precisely  here  lies  the  great  defect  of  our  pre- 
sent  ministrations,  and  it  needs  plain  dealing 
and    speedy   correction.      "Wince    not,    clerical 
brother,  at  a  few  outright  references  to  it,  even 
though  you  should  not  concur  in  them.     Frank- 
ness will  not  hurt  us ;  and  in  a  work  like  this, 
if  anywhere,  honest  individual  opinions,  thougli 
even   erroneous,  may  be  respectfully  allowed. 
You  will  not,  after  what  has  been  said,  question 
pur  high  estimation  of  the  Methodist  ministr}-— 
the  men  of  genius   or  special   talent  scattered 
through  its  ranks,  excel,  we  believe,  in  number 
and  power  those  of  any  other  American  pulpit ; 
the  fathers  we  have  described  as  a  heroic  host ; 
their  successors,  who   have   been  educated  by 
similar  circumstances,  in  the  severer  fields  of 
our  work,  are  still,  as  a  body,  rare  and  power- 
ful men ;    but  is  there  not  a  large  class — their 
successors  in  the  maturer  fields — a  class  which 
is  fast  becoming  our  aggregate  ministry  there — ■ 
who,  without  special  talents,  are  also  without 
the  heroic  characteristics  of  the  fathers?    And 
is  it  not  the  case  that  there  is  in  this  growino- 
class   men   of  mere   indolent   mediocrity,  men 
of  little  study,  little  variety,  and  little  thoroirgh- 
ness  of  instruction;  and  who  not  unfrequently 


170  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

attempt  to  substitute  physical  for  intellectual 
energy  in  the  pulpit  ?  Tliese  assuredly  are  not 
the  men  needed  by  our  matured  Churches  of  to- 
day, especially  amid  the  sectarian  rivalries  of 
the  cities  and  larger  villages.  Their  limited 
topics  may  be  as  good  as  those  of  the  fathers, 
but  their  local  circumstances  are  different. 
What  variety  they  possess  soon  becomes  ex- 
hausted ;  and  is  it  not  often  ajjparent  that  their 
subjects,  however  intrinsically  good,  are  but 
hackneyed  props  upon  which  to  hang  "  First," 
"  Secondly,"  and  "  Thirdly," — the  hasty  excogit- 
ations of  Saturday  night  or  Sabbath  morning  ? 

Practical  training,  we  repeat — practical  train- 
ing in  the  details  of  Christian  duty,  is  the  pres- 
ent want  of  Methodism,  and  for  two  reasons. 

The  first  is,  the  promiscuous  character  of  our 
people.  It  is  not  a  denominational  detraction, 
but  a  denominational  lionor  that  our  Churches 
have  hitherto  been  chiefly  composed  of  the 
poorer  classes — those  who  most  need  the  gospel, 
and  who,  Avlien  properly  trained  by  it,  become 
its  best  examples;  but  this  honorable  fact  lias 
devolved  upon  us  a  peculiar  responsibility, — the 
promiscuous  masses  we  have  gathered  together 
need  specially  careful  instruction.  Under  the 
ministrations  of  the  fathers  they  were  initiated 


/ 

JBEQTJIRED    BY     THP^    TIMES.  lYl 

into  the  great  truths  and  the  personal  experience 
of  religion.  The  elementary  truths  of  Christi- 
anity, accompanied  by  a  sound  religious  experi- 
ence, are  doubtless  a  better  guarantee  of  Chris- 
tian morals  than  thorough  training  in  the  latter 
without  the  former ;  but  the  one  cannot  super- 
sede the  other.  Nor  is  it  necessary  for  our  ar- 
gument to  admit  that  serious  derelictions  are 
more  common  among  us  than  among  other 
sects  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  affirm  the  importance  of 
the  practical  divinity  of  the  Scriptures  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  that  among  us  too 
exclusive  a  devotion  to  the  consolatory  or  ad- 
monitory asj^ects  of  the  Gospel—too  hortatory 
a  style — ^have  too  much  limited  our  practical 
instructions. 

Another  reason  for  improvement  in  this  re- 
spect is,  that  the  great  variety  of  the  practical 
themes  of  the  Gospel  would  afford  more  variety 
to  our  preaching,  and  therefore  more  attraction 
to  our  congregations.  The  restricted  pulpit 
range  of  our  first  preachers,  however  suitable  to 
their  modes  of  labor,  has  too  much  uniformity 
for  ours.  An  attempt  to  relieve  the  tameness 
of  this  uniformity  of  thought  by  energy  of  feel- 
ing or  declamation,  may  partly  succeed ;  espe- 
cially in  connection  with  good  pastoral  habits : 


172  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHIXG 

it  may  sometimes  render  it  tolerable  to  a  popu- 
lar audience  through  a  two  years'  appointment ; 
but  it  will  not  make  up  for  the  defective  train- 
ing of  the  people,  and  must  in  the  "long  run" 
fail  to  interest,  if  it  does  not  alienate,  our  most 
intelligent  families. 

How  rich  is  the  variety  of  practical  themes 
for  the  pulpit !  The  practical  bearings  of  re- 
pentance, the  practical  applications  of  faith; 
prayer — private,  family,  social,  pubhc;  public 
worship ;  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath ;  bap- 
tism ;  the  Lord's  supper ;  modes  of  personal 
effort  for  the  salvation  of  men ;  charity  to  the 
poor;  charity  to  religious  opinions;  serial  lec- 
tures on  the  historical  characters  of  the  Scrip- 
tures; the  relations  of  pastors  and  people;  and 
the  large  range  of  practical  counsels  appropri- 
ate to  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  chil- 
dren, masters  and  servants,  &c. ;  assuredly  he 
who  with  such  themes,  and  their  sublime  rela- 
tions to  time  and  eternity,  fails  of  varied  inter- 
est in  tlie  pulpit,  must  be  inexcusable.  It  is  on 
these  very  themes  that  the  multitudhious  assem- 
blies under  our  care  most  need  instruction. 

Second.  For  the  same  reasons  our  preaching 
should  be  varied  with  more  doctrinal  instruc- 
tion.    Do  we  mistake  in  saying  that  the  charge 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  173 

of  vagueness  applied  to  our  practical  instruc- 
tion is  applicable  to  our  doctrinal  preaching — 
not  to  the  importance  of  its  subjects,  but  their 
variety?  Is  there  not  even  among  us  a  tacit 
dislike  to  doctrinal  themes  in  the  pulpit,  owing 
in  part,  it  may  be,  to  the  virulence  with  which 
distinctive  doctrines  are  liable  to  be  discussed, 
or  the  too  habitual  devotion  of  some  preachers 
to  them,  notwithstanding  our  denominational 
tendency  to  the  contrary  ? 

Whatever  truth  God  has  revealed  should  be 
proclaimed  by  his  embassadors;  but  are  there 
not  many  such  truths  which  have  never  been 
discussed  by  some  who  read  these  lines,  and 
who  have  grown  gray  in  the  pulpit  ? 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  some  of  those  doctrines 
which  we  deem  most  vital  to  Christianity  are 
most  neglected,  so  far  as  their  elucidation  or  de- 
fense is  concerned.  The  Athanasian  views  of 
the  Godhead  we  identify  with  the  very  essence 
of  orthodoxy ;  but  how  seldom  are  these  doc- 
trines discussed  in  our  pulpits !  Our  dialectics 
have  not  much  to  do  with  them  indeed,  but  our 
Bible  has,  and  the  Scriptural  illustration  and 
demonstration  of  truths  so  fundamental  cannot 
certainly  be  unimportant. 

Here  again  we  have  an  amj^le  field  for  va- 


174:  ESSAYS     ON     THE     PREACHING 

ridy  of  pulpit  themes,  God  and  his  attributes ; 
Christ,  his  Godhead,  his  offices ;  the  Holy  Spirit, 
his  Divinity  and  work ;  the  atonement ;  repent- 
ance; faith;  justitication ;  regeneration;  sancti- 
fication ;  the  resurrection;  future  judgment; 
rewards  and  punishments;  the  spirituality  and 
immortality  of  the  soul ;  the  nature  and  reality 
and  evidences  of  experimental  religion,  ttc. 

The  objection,  a  tacit  if  not  an  uttered  one, 
that  doctrinal  preaching  would  tend  to  a  specu- 
lative if  not  worse  spirit  in  the  Church,  ought 
not  to  be  admitted  for  a  moment — it  is  a  slander 
on  the  truth  of  God.  There  may  indeed  be  dia- 
lectic gymnastics  attempted  in  this  sublime  arena 
— polemic  farces,  at  which  devils  as  well  as  mcu 
may  recreate  themselves ;  but  the  same  nuiy  be 
said  of  experimental  and  practical  divinitj'.  No 
pervereions  of  doctrine  have  been  more  mon- 
strous than  the  recorded  delusions  of  practical 
and  inward  religion. 

On  the  contrary,  the  great  doctrines  of  reve- 
lation, rightly  presented,  would  form  the  most 
substantial  basis  for  our  practical  instructions ; 
for  those  assaults  on  public  evils  which  we  have 
recommended;  and  also  premises  for  the  most 
powerful  motives  of  personal  religion.  Tlie  good 
sense  of  the  preacher,  of  coui-so,  must  be  their 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  175 

guarantee  against  abuse;  but  it  is  to  be  sup- 
posed that  he  who  is  counted  worthy  of  this 
ministry  should  not  be  lacking  in  common  sense, 
or  the  reverent  appreciation  of  such  impressive 
themes. 

Tldrd.  There  is  another  class  of  subjects  not 
usually  comprehended  in  our  practical  divinity, 
but  having  a  secondary  relation  to  it,  at  least, 
which,  occasionally  and  judiciously  treated, 
would  increase  much  the  variety  of  our  pulpit 
themes,  and  afford  instruction  and  interest  to 
our  congregations.  Among  these  we  would 
include  first  the  great  modern  schemes  of  evan- 
gelization, such  as  Sunday  schools,  Missions, 
Tracts,  and  Bible  societies.  The  pastor,  especial- 
ly the  "stationed"  pastor,  should  make  himself 
familiar,  not  merely  witli  the  general  character 
of  these  enterprises,  but  with  their  leading  data, 
if  not  their  detail,  at  least  so  far  as  they  are 
connected  with  his  own  denomination;  not 
vague  declamation  will  suffice  for  them — ^lie  can 
show  their  substantial  value  only  by  substantial 
facts.  It  is  thus  only  that  he  can  train  his  people 
to  a  practical  interest  in  them.  The  Churches 
which  are  most  familiar  with  these  institutions 
are  those  which  most  liberally  sustain  them-; 
and  it  cannot  be  doubted  'that  their  fuller  re- 


176  ESSAYS    ON    THE    TREACniNG 

presentation  in  our  pulpits  would  soon  effect 
an  appreciable  change  in  tlieir  success  among 
us.  Do  we  mistake  in  saying  that  these  great 
interests  of  modern  Christianity  are  lamentably 
neglected  by  our  general  ministry,  so  far  as  their 
appropriate  representation  in  the  pulpit  is  con- 
cerned? Our  periodicals  and  special  agents 
camiot  supersede  this  service. 

Again:  we  would  include  in  the  present  class 
of  pulpit  themes  those  special  addresses  to  the 
young,  the  aged,  to  citizens  on  the  ethics  of 
their  political  relations,  etc.,  which  occasionally 
form  interesting  and  instructive  series  of  dis- 
courses in  the  modern  pulpit.  Important  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity  are  ajiplicable  to  these 
subjects,  and,  rightly  discussed,  they  may  be- 
come the  special  occasions  of  most  special 
appeals  of  the  truth. 

To  these  we  would  add,  occasionally  at  least, 
other  topics — those  which  arise  from  adventi- 
tious questions  of  the  day,  or  public  interests 
indirectly  related  to  religion  or  morals.  Pauper- 
ism, intemperance,  gambling,  education,  patriot- 
ism, great  national  occasions  or  anniversaries, 
the  moral  aspects  of  political  events,  the  uses 
and  abuses  of  weaUh,  tlie  moralities  of  business 
life,   war,   witli   tlic  i)ractical    peace   questions, 


REQUIRED     BY     THE    TIMES.  177 

and  even  ''colonization"  and  "slavery,"  if  yon 
please.  We  can  only  refer  to  these  varied 
classes  of  subjects.  They  present  an  almost 
endless  scope,  and  the  preacher  who  avails 
himself  of  them  prudently,  can  hardly  fail  to 
render  his  pulpit  attractive  to  the  people.  We 
say  prudently,  for  doubtless  there  is  a  liability 
to  imprudence  here.  Such  secondary  topics 
should  have  but  a  secondary  place  in  his  instruc- 
tions. They  should  be  used  merely  as  an 
occasional  digression  from  the  more  essential 
themes  of  the  gospel.  They  have  nevertheless 
their  claims  and  their  appropriate  seasons. 

It  is  a  misfortune  for  our  argument  that  the 
non-evangelical  pulpit  of  the  day  has  dealt  so 
largely  in  these  collateral  topics,  finding  in  them 
a  relief  from  the  less  congenial  themes  of  true 
religion ;  let  not  this  abuse,  however,  mil- 
itate against  the  due  use  of  such  important 
subjects.  They  need  not  interfere  with,  but 
may  be  sanctified,  as  we  have  shown,  by  our 
very  highest  evangelism,  and  it  may  be  affirmed 
that  we  can  hardly  train  our  people  to  the 
highest  standard  of  Christian  intelligence  and 
enterprise  without  their  discussion  in  the  pulpit. 
Let  us  put  away  the  thought  that  such  a  discus- 
sion of  them  would  interfere  with  the  fervency 
12 


/ 


178  E8SAYS   ON   THE   PKEAOniNG 

of  our  piety  or  our  usual  revivals.  The  objec- 
tion would  give  to  the  revilers  of  fervent  piety 
and  revivals  a  formidable  argument.  Our  sister 
evangelical  Churches  which  are  most  addicted 
to  these  discussions,  not  only  take  the  lead  in 
philanthropic  enterprises,  but  abound  in  genuine 
revivals.  Our  own  more  energetic  spirit  should 
not  lag  behind  them  in  either  respect. 

"We  have  thus  indicated  some  of  the  modifica- 
tions which  the  times  demand  in  our  preaching, 
especially  among  the  older  communities,  wdiere 
our  congregations  are  not  only  stated,  but 
abound  in  intelligence  and  resources  that  re- 
quire such  improved  treatment.  "What  an 
effect  on  our  ministrations,  in  such  com- 
munities, would  a  general  endeavor  after  this 
improved  and  varied  preaching  soon  produce! 
More  thorough  habits  of  study  would  be  formed; . 
an  improved  style  both  of  thought  and  address 
would  follow,  and  the  whole  intellectual  tone  of 
our  pul2:)it  would  be  elevated.  It  would,  in  fine, 
be  a  partial  but  most  salutary  process  of  self- 
education  to  our  ministry,  and,  combined  with 
their  old  distinctions,  such  as  we  have  described, 
would  soon  enable  them  to  rival  their  com- 
petitors in  the  larger  cities,  in  these,  as  in  other 
respects,  and  thus  stop  effectually  that  relative 


EEQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  179 

declension  of  our  cause  which,  caccording  to  re- 
ports of  some  among  us,  has  been  taking  place 
in  most  of  them  within  a  few  years.  We  insist 
.  as  we  did  in  our  former  chapter,  that  those  old 
distinctions,  or  whatever  of  them  may  now  be 
desirable,  can  be  combined  with  these  improve- 
ments. Kot  an  iota  of  our  moral  power  need 
be  sacrificed. 

It  is  hoped  that,  while  we  urge  these   im- 
provements as  appropriate  to  our  general  minis- 
try, It  is  not  necessary  to  guard  our  remarks 
against  a  prejudiced  construction.     It  is  admit- 
ted that   there   are   scattered  all  through   our 
ranks  individual  men  who  have  surveyed  thor- 
oughly, in  both  the  study  and  the  pulpit,  these 
large  fields  of  thought,  and  who  even  stand  be- 
fore the  public  on  their  most  advanced  grounds. 
Honor  be  upon  such  men  !  for  most  of  them  owe 
their  success  to  their  own  unaided   endeavors, 
sustained  amid  the  most  trying  ministerial  re- 
sponsibilities which  have  been  known  since  the 
^days  of  the  apostles.     Our  ministry  has  also  not 
been  without  a  class  of  men  preeminent  even 
above  these,  for  reputation  at  least— men  of  re- 
nown in  the  Church,  representative  men,  who 
have  been  masters  of  not  only  the  great  themes 
of  the  pulpit,  but  of  the  highest  ability  for  their 


180  ESSAYS     ON    THE    TKEACHING 

discussion.  Tlie  names  of  Siimmei-field,  Bas- 
com,  Cookman,  Fisk,  and  Olin,  have  had  few 
cotemporaiy  rivals  in  sister  Churches  ;  and  other 
names,  not  yet  rendered  sacred  by  death, 
will  hereafter  be  added  to  the  list.  All  this  we 
admit,  and  yet  deem  the  preceding  observations 
applicable  to  our  general  ministry. 

Xhus  much,  then,  for  the  improvement  of  our 
preaching ^  but  this  implies  also  a  corresjDond- 
ent  improvement  of  the  preacher.  We  have 
alluded  to  the  effect  which  such  an  elevated 
standard  of  pulpit  instruction  would  have  on 
his  own  intellectual  character.  AVith  our  can- 
didates, however,  we  should  anticipate  this  im- 
provement, and  om*  pre-requisites  should  be 
such  as  to  secure  it.  Tlie  remark  is  not  only 
applicable  to  the  older  sections  of  the  Church, 
but  in  part  to  the  most  recent;  for  it  has  pleased 
God  so  to  multiply  our  candidates  throughout 
the  connection,  as  to  allow  a  very  considerable 
discrimination  in  their  selection,  were  we  but 
disposed  to  adhere,  to  our  legitimate  and  eco- 
nomical modes  of  labor.  "Were  it  not  for  the 
absurd  policy  (for  such  we  must  be  allowed  to 
call  it)  of  breaking  up  our  circuits  into  hardly 
self-supporting  "stations,"  and  of  gradually 
abolishing  the  local  ministry,  instead  of  a  want 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES,  181 

we  should  now,  probably,  have  an  excess  of  can- 
didates."'^ A  single  western  conference  (Illinois) 
received  last  yasa' forty-four  probationers,  mak- 
ing its  list  of  candidates  seventy-two,  and  more 
numerous  by  twenty-seven  than  its  whole  list  of 
effective  members !  Another  conference  re- 
ceived twenty-live,  giving  it  a  probationers'  list 
of  forty-four ;  another  twenty-three,  giving  it 
forty-seven  candidates ;  another  twenty-one, 
giving  it  thirty-three.  The  itinerant  ministry 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (ISTorth  and 
South)  now  numbers  six  thousand  five  hundred 
men  ;  the  Roman  Catholics  report  but  about  one 
thousand  one  hundred ;  the  Protestant  Episco- 
palians about  one  thousand  five  hundred  ;  the 
Congregational  orthodox  about  one  thousand  six 
hundred ;  the  old  school-Presbyterians  about 
two  thousand ;  the  new  school  one  thousand  five 

*  These  unfortunate  changes  are  also  ascribed,  to  the 
"  demands  of  the  times,"  a  very  convenient  but  fallacious 
excuse  for  something  worse.  It  will  hardly  be  pleaded 
that  Methodism  in  America  is  in  advance  of  English  Meth- 
odism in  the  intelligence  or  good  taste  of  its  people ;  the 
latter,  however,  finds  no  difficulty  in  keeping  up  itinerancy 
and  a  powerful  constantly-working  local  ministry,  in  both 
country  and  city.  We  hope  the  old  metropolis  of  Ameri- 
can Methodism,  Baltimore,  will  hesitate  long  to  follow  the 
example  of  our  other  cities  in  these  "  reforms."  There  are 
advantages  in  the  change,  but  how  dearly  are  they  paid  for! 


182     ESSAYS  ON  THE  rREACHTNO 

liiindred;  tlie  Baptists  about  five  tliousand  one 
liundred.*  These  comparative  statements  show- 
that  Methodism  is  prolific  in  its  resources  of 
men  if  not  of  other  means  for  its  ministry,  Tlie 
supply  would  be  up  to  its  necessities  if  not  above 
them,  were  it  not  for  the  late  impolitic  devia- 
tions from  its  old  and  successful  itinerant  plans  ; 
and  even  as  it  is,  we  believe  that  with  suitable 
aids  and  encouragements,  such  as  other  denom- 
inations provide,  we  could,  even  now,  command 
a  superabundance  of  candidates. 

Tliis  fact  is  worthy  of  sj^ecial  remark.  It  is  quite 
unique  in  the  current  history  of  the  Amei-ican 
Churches.  While  our  sister  denominations  are 
universally  lamenting  the  decrease  of  their  the- 
ological students,  we,  with  local  exceptions,  re- 
joice amidst  multiplying  candidates."!"  The  fact 
is  full  of  providential  significance ;  it  corres-  ■ 
ponds  with  what  wc  have  said  of  tlie  great 
providential  mission  yet  awaiting  Methodism  in 
this  land ;  it  corresponds  further  with  tlie  new 

*  This  includes  all  its  preachers,  whether  pastors  or  not. 
If  our  local  preachers  were  included  in  the  estimate  of  the 
Methodist  ministry,  its  amount  would  he  more  than  treh- " 
led.     The  above  calculations  were  made  in  1852. 

t  Our  first  theological  school,  while  yet  in  its  infancy,  has 
grown  to  be  numerically  the  third  in  the  nation,  and  will 
probably  soon  be  the  first. 


EEQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  183 

demands  of  our  cause  which  have  been  stated. 
For  the  latter  we  should  avail  ourselves  of  it  in 
two  ways. 

First.  "We  should  be  more  choice  in  our 
selections  from  these  increasing  candidates. 
Would  that  we  could  impress  the  remark  upon 
our  conferences!  Let  us  learn  that  piety, 
though  the  chief,  is  not  the  only  qualification  for 
the  ministry ;  that  gifts  as  well  as  graces  are  re- 
quired by  our  own  standards ;  and  that  now,  more 
than  at  any  other  period  of  our  history,  is  this 
double  criterion  necessary.  "We  certainly  are 
not  yet  as  cautious  in  this  respect  as  our  circum- 
stances require  ;  energetic  zeal,  without  ability, 
if  successful  in  its  first  efibrts,  or  under  special 
circumstances,  is  too  readily  taken  as  the  dertain 
pledge  of  enduring  usefulness  ;  and  the  untrain- 
ed novice  is  urged  into  the  conference,  to  be  too 
often  an  encumbrance  ever  after,  suftering  him- 
self as  well  as  inflicting  suffering  on  the  Church 
for  the  ill-advised  ugency  of  his  brethren. 

Further:  This  increasing  supply  of  men 
should  lead  to  more  delay  in  their  admission  to 
the  ministerial  service,  and  thereby  secure  better 
preparation  for  it.  This  policy  would  be  wise 
even  in  such  conferences  as  suffer  somewl^at 
through   lack    of   laborers.     Tlie    precipitancy 


184  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

with  which  we  have  pressed  young  men  into 
our  laborious  ministry  has  been  a  crying  evil. 
It  has  sent  hosts  of  them  to  premature  graves. 
It  has  inflicted  upon  many  physical  disabilities 
which  have  subtracted  from  their  usefulness 
through  life.  It  has  occasioned  a  startling  in- 
effective list,  which  draws  upon  the  resources 
of  the  Church  for  support,  and  suffers  notwith- 
standing, amidst  our  very  altars.  There  are  now 
five  hundred  and  eleven  superannuated  and  su- 
pernumerary preachers  reported  in  our  Minutes 
— nearly  one-eigJiih  of  our  whole  ministry.* 
Our  ministerial  tables  of  mortality  have  scarcely 
a  parallel.  ISTearly  half  of  all  the  Methodist 
preachers  whose  deaths  have  been  recorded,  fell 
before  they  were  thirty  years  of  age.  The  time 
spent  in  the  itinerant  work  by  six  hundred  and 
seventy-two  has  been  ascertained  :  one  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  spent  from  two  to  five  years ; 
two  hundred  and  nine  from  five  to  twelve; 
one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  from  twelve  to 
twenty-five ;  ninety  from  twenty -five  to  forty  ; 
thirty-two  from  forty  to  fifty  ;  and  thirteen  from 
fifty  to  sixty-one.  About  two-thirds  died  after 
twelve  years^  itinerant  sei'vice. 

*  This  includes  not  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  185 

Much  of  tliis  astonisliing  mortality  is  attrib- 
utable to  the  haste  with  which  we  have  urged 
youthful  laborers  into  our  hard  service.  What 
a  waste  of  not  only  health  and  life,  but  of  use- 
fulness has  this  blindly-zealous  policy  occasion- 
ed !  Tliere  are  apologetic  considerations  con- 
nected with  the  subject,  we  know,  but  none 
which  fully  justify  us. 

We  have  amended  in  this  respect,  but  not 
sufficiently.  Few  sights  could  be  more  im- 
pressive than  an  assembled  Methodist  confer- 
ence, for  it  presents  the  best  example  of  what 
moral  heroism  is  yet  extant  in  our  world ;  but 
there  are  painful  detractions  from  the  scene.  It 
is  scattered  over  Avitli  pallid  and  decayed  men, 
who  ought  to  be  in  the  prime  of  manly  vigor. 
It  is  composed  too  much,  and,  we  fear,  increas- 
ingly, of  immature  men,*  whose  juvenile  and 
yet  often  enfeebled  aspect,  seems  out  of  place 
there— men  who  have  too  early  been  subjected 
to  the  labors  and  anxieties  of  our  ministry,  and 
who  find  that  they  can  make  up  for  their  defi- 
cient preparation  only  by  the  sacrifice  of  their 
health.  Better  for  them,  in  body  and  mind, 
would  it  be,  did  we  retain  our  old  circuits,  for 

*  Bishop  Soule,  some  years  since,  in  a  published  letter 
referred  with  emphatic  regret  to  this  fact. 


186  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PEEACIIING 

these  would  require  fewer  mental  resources, 
and  supply  invigorating  bodily  exercise ;  but 
appointed,  as  they  mostly  are,  to  isolated  and 
hardly  self-supporting  stations,  amidst  the  rival- 
ries of  older  sects  how  can  they  sustain  their 
positions  without  sacrificing  themselves  ? 

This  offering  of  human  hecatombs  at  our 
altars  should  cease,  and  should  cease  right  speed- 
ily :  whatever  plea  of  necessity  for  it  once  exist- 
ed has  virtually  ceased.  Our  younger  candi- 
dates should  be  reserved — recognized,  but  re- 
served— on  a  Wcsleyan  "  reserve  list,"  and  aided 
in  their  intellectual  preparation  for  the  work  in 
such  manner  as  to  relieve  them  afterward  from 
the  pressure  under  which  so  many  now  sink. 

And  this  should  be  the  case,  we  repeat,  not 
only  in  the  older,  but  also  in  the  more  recent 
fields  of  our  ministerial  work.  In  arguing  that 
the  later  fields  will  still  indefinitely  demand  our 
old  ministerial  style  and  methods,  we  have  not 
implied  that  the  intellectual  advancement  of  the 
ministry  was  to  be  confined  to  the  older  confer- 
ences— assuredly  not !  If  genuine  ability  is  any- 
where needed,  it  is  in  the  great  arena  which  has 
been  described  as  now  opening  for  the  final 
moral  conflicts  of  the  country ;  and  such  ability 
not  oiilv  in  natural  rudeness,  l)ut  cultivated  and 


REQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  18T 

oven  accomplished,  may  find  there  a  most  appro- 
priate field  of  exertion,  and  find  also  in  the 
severities  of  our  itinerant  methods  congenial  oc- 
casions of  heroism  and  self-sacrifice. 

There  is,  we  fear,  still  lingering  among  us,  and 
only  half  latent,  a  fallacious  apprehension  that 
intellectual  improvement,  pushed  to  any  con- 
siderable advancement  in  our  ministry,  would 
be  hurtful  to  its  old  purity  and  energy.  We 
forget  that  Methodism,  like  the  Reformation, 
like  modern  missions,  and  like  almost  every 
other  great  movement  of  the  evangelical  world, 
had  its  birth  in  an  institution  of  learning.  "It 
sounded  its  first  trumpet,"  says  some  one,  "  and 
commenced  its  march  over  the  world,  from 
within  the  gates  of  a  university."  Most  of 
its  great  leaders  were  learned  men.  Wesley, 
its  founder  and  legislator,  was  the  Fellow  of  a 
college ;  Charles  Wesley,  its  psalmist,  was  a  col- 
legian in  the  same  university;  Coke,  its  first 
American  bishop,  and  the  founder  of  its  mis- 
sions, bore  the  highest  title  of  the  learned 
world;  Benson  was  a  university  student; 
Fletcher  was  the  president  of  a  theological 
school ;  Clarke  was  a  student  of  universal  knowl- 
edge. Among  our  own  great  names  are  those 
of  Enter,  Emory,  Fisk,  01  in,  and  others  of  the 


188  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

dead  and  the  living.  Were  these  men  unfitted 
for  the  demands  of  Metliodism  by  tlieir  intellec- 
tual culture  ?  Were  they  less  devoted,  less  use- 
ful, less  faithful  to  the  peculiar  duties  of  om- 
system  than  their  uneducated  fellow-laborers? 
And  -would  a  ministry  generally  composed  of 
just  such  men  be  unsuitable  for  even  the  hard- 
est demands  of  our  work  ?  No,  no  ^  mental  ca- 
pacity does  not  imply  moral  incapacity.  Meth- 
odism is  compatible  with  large  minds,  as  well 
as  large  hearts,  and  can  employ  them  on  the 
sublimest  scale  of  their  powers.  We  soberly 
believe  that  such  minds,  imbued  with  the  evan- 
gelic si)irit,  can  find  nowhere  else  a  more  con- 
genial sphere  of  self-devotion  and  self-develoj)- 
ment.  Men  of  less  capacity  have  been  signally 
useful  among  us,  but  it  has  been  appropriately 
asked,  "  What  would  be  the  standing  of  Meth- 
odism at  this  moment,  if  the  mass  of  our  ministry 
had  added  to  their  natural  powers  the  acquired 
talents  of  such  men?"  Its  banners  would  in  all 
probability  be  waving  over  most  of  the  world. 
Let  us  then  heed  those  indications  of  Provi- 
dence M'hich  call  upon  us  better  to  supply  our 
candidates  with  qualifications  for  their  work. 
In  meeting  our  present  necessities,  let  us  select 
such   as  are   maturest   in  mind  and  bodv.  not 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  189 

always  the  most  talented  or  the  most  devoted; 
for  these,  if  feeble  or  young,  may  be  prema- 
turely sacrificed,  but,  in  either  case,  may  be  ren- 
dered more  useful  by  a  preparatory  delay. 

The  extraordinary  fact  of  our  large  (though, 
for  unnecessary  reasons,  still  deficient)  supply 
of  preachers,  and  the  convenience  which,  with 
right  management,  it  oflers  for  a  "  reserve " 
corps,  should,  we  think,  receive  extraordinary 
attention  from  the  Church.  Few  facts  in  our 
history  have  been  more  available  for  the  fuller 
development  of  our  ministerial  energies.  Our 
wise  men  should  study  to  turn  it  to  advantage, 
devising  for  this  purpose  most  "  liberal  things." 
Such,  too,  is  the  popular  demand  among  us  for 
the  intellectual  improvement  of  the  ministry, 
notwithstanding  the  "  half-latent "  prejudice 
mentioned,  that  it  cannot  be  doubted  the 
Church  would  respond  with  the  promptest 
generosity  to  any  plan  for  the  benefit  of  its 
younger  ministry,  the  ministry  to  which  it  is  to 
commit  its  children,  and  with  which  are  associ- 
ated therefore  its  tenderest  solicitudes. 

But  what  plan  shall  we  adopt  for  this  prepar- 
atory training  ? 

Presuming  that  we  have  thus  far  carried 
along  with  us  the  concurrence  of  most  if  not  all 


190  ESSAYS     ON     TJIK    TKEACHING 

our  readers,  it  might  only  mar  the  influence  of 
this  appeal  to  conclude  it  with  a  discussion 
of  debated  plans  of  ministerial  improvement. 
Ho^yever  slight  may  be  that  influence,  we  would 
have  it  unimpaired  on  the  subjects  thus  far 
treated,  for  we  deem  them  among  the  para- 
mount Methodist  questions  of  the  day.  Relying, 
however,  on  the  forbearance  which  we  have  al- 
ready bespoken,  we  shall  venture  to  submit  a 
few  suggestions  on  the  question  just  proposed. 

First,  then,  we  think  a  reserved  list  should  be 
kept  by  each  conference,  bearing  the  names  of 
candidates  who  may  not  be  immediately  pre- 
pared for  the  ministry,  and  especially  of  promis- 
ing young  men  who,  even  if  the  conference  is 
not  abundantly  supplied,  should  nevertheless  be 
reserved  for  better  preparation  and  riper  years, 
as  this  policy  would  be  an  economical  one  in 
the  result.  Such  a  relation  of  candidates  to  the 
conference,  however  slight,  would  be  better 
than  none  at  all.  Tliough  not  admitted,  they 
would  at  least  be  recognized.  A  tie,  now  un- 
known among  us,  M'ould  connect  them  with  the 
"  regular  ministry,"  and  not  be  Avithout  a  par- 
tial influence.  Whether  this  delay  leads  them 
to  our  institutions  of  learning,  or  to  continue  yet 
awhile  in  secular  business,  they  will  be  more 


KEQUIKED     BY     THE    TIMES.  191 

inclined  to  bear  in  mind  and  prepare  for  their 
destined  work  ;  their  reading  and  local  exer- 
cises in  preaching  would  have  more  habitual 
reference  to  it. 

Second,  We  should  provide  a  course  of  study 
for  this  reserved  corps.  A  course  of  study  for 
our  local  preachers  has  been  provided,  and  will 
tend  much  to  elevate  this  branch  of  our  minis- 
terial service.  The  same  course  would  do  for 
reserved  candidates,  and  brethren  who  design  to 
remain  in  the  local  ranks.  The  sucqcss  of  any- 
such  requireinent  must,  however,  depend  upon 
its  authoritative  character  ;  it  should,  therefore, 
be  subject  to  the  official  care  of  the  presiding 
elder,  and  accompanied  with  regular  examina- 
tions, in  the  presence  of  either  the  quarterly 
conference  or  a  committee  of  its  ministerial 
members.  Some  sort  of  system,  in  other  words, 
with  personal  responsibilities,  is  necessary  if  we 
would  have  the  design  effective  ;  and  those  who 
may  object  to  our  further  suggestions,  should 
see  that  something  precise  and  practicable,  on 
the  plan  here  mentioned,  be  provided  as  the 
only  security  against  further  demands. 

Third.  Many  of  the  best  minds  among  ns 
think  the  time  has  come  in  which  the  Churoh 
should  require  higher  literary  prerequisites,  and 


192  ESSAYS    ON     THE     riiEACllING 

provide  meaus  for  the  better  education  of  can- 
didates^ or  at  least  of  such  as  have  not  them- 
selves the  means.  The  cardinal  religious  de- 
nominations of  the  country  have  such  provisions 
in  the  form  of  "Education  Societies."  They 
are  important  features  in  the  philanthropic 
finances  of  some  of  these  denominations.  It  has 
been  complained  that,  though  no  Church  has 
more  promising  claimants  of  such  aid  than 
ours,  and  none  needs  it  more,  yet  none  has 
shown  less  disposition  to  provide  it.  Men 
now  in  om*  own  ministry,  it  is  said,  have 
been  compelled  to  receive  assistance  from 
the  Education  Societies  of  sister  Churches.  If 
the  comparative  paucity  of  our  resources,  or 
the  urgency  of  other  interests,  have  here- 
tofore excused  us  from  this  claim,  it  is  con- 
tended we  cannot  plead  the  excuse  any  longer. 
We  now  abound  in  resources,  and  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  any  financial  project,  sanc- 
tioned by  our  leading  minds,  and  proposing 
an  obvious  advantage  to  the  Church,  can  com- 
mand any  necessary  liberality  from  it:,  its  pop- 
ularity and  success  will  indeed  generally  be 
proportionate  to  the  generosity  and  greatness  of 
its  designs.  Has  the  time  come,  then,  for  the 
formation  of  an  "Education  Society"  among  us, 


REQUIRED     BY     THE    TIMES.  193 

for  the  better  preparation  of  our  ministerial 
candidates ;  a  great,  a  denominational  society, 
which  shall  take  rank  by  the  side  of  om-  leading 
financial  schemes  ?  This  project  need  not  in- 
volve the  question  of  theological  schools,  nor 
any  particular  standard  of  ministerial  training. 
It  could,  like  similar  societies  in  other  Churches, 
provide  merely  a  given  annual  appropriation 
for  the  support  of  candidates  in  our  academies 
or  colleges,  subject  to  few  and  general  restric- 
tions. Personally  we  are  not  prepared  to  say 
how  far  sucli  an  institution  would  be  applicable 
to  the  present  circumstances  of  the  denomination ; 
so  strong,  however,  is  the  demand  for  educated, 
or  at  least  intellectual  men,  for  the  pulpits  of  our 
Atlantic  churches,  that  it  is  believed  our  people 
would  take  no  ordinary  interest  in  it,  provided 
it  were  projected  on  a  scale  of  commanding 
proportions. 

Fourth.  There  are  not  a  few  among  us  who 
believe  that  institutions  expressly  for  theological 
education  are  appropriate  to  our  present  cir- 
cumstances. Whether  justly  or  otherwise,  there 
is  also  in  the  Church  a  vast  amount  of  not  only 
popular  Ijut  intelligent  opposition  to  such  insti- 
tutions. Tlie  primitive  Methodist  preachers,- 
as  we  have  described  them,  were,  it  is  justly 
13 


194  ESSAYS    ON    THE     PREACHING 

aflfirmed,  the  mighty  men  of  their  day,  but  they 
came  not  forth  from  theological  seminaries.  It 
is  replied,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they  were 
providentially  raised  up  for  their  times  ;  that  the 
times  have  changed,  not  in  respect  to  the  work, 
but  the  workmen ;  that  Providence,  which  espe- 
cially fitted  them  for  their  times,  now  indicates 
that  we  should  ourselves  aid  in  the  prepara- 
tion. The  first  preachers  of  Christianity,  it  is 
argued,  were  miraculously  qualified  for  this 
work,  but  when  the  early  exigencies  of  the 
Church  were  past,  miraculous  gifts  ceased,  and 
the  task  of  jDroviding  pastors  was  devolved  upon 
the  Church ;  and,  continues  the  argument,  you 
might  as  well  contend  that  your  missionaries 
need  not  study  the  language  of  China  in  order 
to  preach  there,  because  the  apostles  had  the 
miraculous  gift  of  tongues,  as  to  object  to  the-, 
©logical  education,  because  they  or  the  first 
preachei-s  of  Methodism  were  not  academically 
trained. 

The  advocates  of  theological  schools  com- 
plain that  they  have  not  been  favored  Avith  a 
fair  hearing  through  our  authorized  publica- 
tions. Whatever  may  be  the  opposition  of  the 
reader  to  their  scheme,  we  are  sure  he  will  be 
willing  to  hear  them  impartially.     To  silence 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  195 

this  charge,  as  well  as  to  present  candidly  their 
views,  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  give  the  fol- 
lowing rather  ardent  quotation  from  one  of  the 
most  enthusiastic  among  them. 

"  Such  institutions,"  he  says,  "  were  not  con- 
sidered by  the  founder  of  Methodism  to  be  for- 
eign to  its  genius  and  interests.  In  the  very 
first  conference  he  ever  held,  he  himself  pro- 
posed such  a  measure;  the  proposition  was  re- 
peated in  the  second  session,  and  was  never  lost 
sight  of  by  the  Wesleyan  connection  during  the 
long  interval  that  elapsed  before  its  resouixjes 
enabled  it  to  embody  the  design  in  its  present 
noble  seminaries.     The  success  of  the  measure 

has  demonstrated  its  wisdom Have  not 

our  circumstances  as  a  Church  changed?  Are 
we  not  able  to  afibrd  our  ministry  the  intel- 
lectual qualifications  which  once  they  could  not 
obtain  but  by  special  endowment  ?  And  is  it 
not  clear,  from  the  whole  history  of  Providence, 
that  when  such  ability  exists,  its  special  inter- 
position ceases?  It  would  be  a  curse  on  the 
world  for  Divine  Providence  to  supersede  the 
necessity  of  our  self-dependence  as  individuals, 
or  as  communities.  Our  fathers  are  passing 
away.  Providence  supplies  us  no  more  with 
such  men,   and  thereby  clearly  indicates  our 


196  ESSAYS    ON     THE     PREACHING 

duty  to  qualify  our  ministry  according  to  the 
means  which  he  gives  us.  He  will  still  call 
men  to  his  work,  but  we  must  open  the  way  for 
them.  "We  propose  not  to  mahe  preachei*s  of 
his  word,  but  only  to  aid  those  whom  he  has 
evidently  called  to  jireach  it.  Who  dares  ob- 
ject to  such  a  proposal?  Providence  has  led  us 
along  from  one  improvement  to  another,  until 
now  this  gi-eat  want  stands  in  our  way  like  a 
mountain,  with  its  summit  glorious  with  light. 
"We  cannot  pass  round  it ;  let  us,  then,  go  over 
it,  -that  our  ministiy  may,  like  Moses,  come 
down  to  the  people  with  their  brows  radiant 
with  its  brightness Under  our  old  sys- 
tem the  repetition  of  a  few  well-studied  subjects 
could  take  the  place  of  fifty  under  our  present 
arrangement.  Tliis  is  no  detraction  from  the 
old  system — it  was  one  of  its  best  points  of 
adaptation  to  an  mieducated  ministry.  But 
now  we  fix  untrained  men  in  small  stations, 
amid  the  closest  competition,  where  they  are 
overburdened  with  pastoral  duties,  Mhicli  were 
unknown  to  our  fathei*s,  and  expect  them  to 
maintain  our  cause  with  success  among  a  popu- 
lation the  most  enlightened  on  the  globe.  IIow 
is  it  possible  for  a  young  man  ^thout  disci- 
pline, without  a  knowledge  of  books  or  of  men, 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  107 

to  furnisli  instruction  for  two  years  under  sucli 
circumstances  ?  A  few  of  our  most  vigorous 
minds  may  nerve  themselves  for  the  necessities 
of  such  a  position,  but  the  mass  of  the  ministry 
must  necessarily  fall  into  the  rear  of  the  edu- 
cated ministries   of  other   sects It   is 

objected  that  education  will  pervert  our  young 
men.  Tliis  is  one  of  those  Yandal  sentiments 
which  I  hardly  know  how  to  discuss.  Is  it  a 
question,  in  this  day,  whether  education  is  fa- 
vorable or  injurious  to  virtue?  Why,  then, 
have  we  not  waited  for  its  decision  before  es- 
tablishing our  academies  and  colleges  ?  Are  we 
afraid  that  Methodism  in  particular  cannot  con- 
sist with  intelligence  ?  Then  it  cannot  be  true : 
and  the  sooner  we  discover  our  delusion  the 
better.  Methodism  is  compatible  Avith  intelli- 
gence. Some  of  the  greatest  intellects  have 
grown  up  under  its  influence ;  its  glorious  the- 
ology and  mighty  system  are  suited  to  the 
highest  minds ;  and  in  no  otlier  Church  can  a 
great  mind  have  freer  scope  for  its  powers. 
But  how  does  this  objection  agree  with  fact? 
Have  our  learned  men  been  perverted?  Have 
they  not  been  among  the  holiest  and  most  use- 
ful men  in  our  Church  ?  Did  learning  corrupt 
"Wesley,   Fletcher,    Coke,  or  Benson?    Whose 


198  KSSAYS    ON    Tin;    rilKArillNCr 

memory  is  more  sacred  among  us  tlian  Fisk's  ? 
And  was  he  perverted  by  learning?  "Was 
Ruter,  who  left  the  presidency  of  a  college  for 
the  snfterings  of  a  missionary,  one  of  the  exam- 
ples from  which  this  objection  is  drawn  ?  Was 
Emory  another  ?  Om*  most  learned  men  have 
been  our  holiest  men.  Tliey  have  been  the 
stanchest  friends  of  om*  doctrines  and  onr  dis- 
cipline, because  their  capacious  minds  have  the 
better  comprehended  their  excellence.  And  is 
not  this  the  case  with  the  young  men  who  come 
into  the  ministry  from  our  learned  institutions  ? 
Where  do  you  find  better  pastors  and  more  de- 
voted preachers  than  they?  It  is  mortifying 
that  Methodism  should  still  be  trameled  and 
enervated  by  such  petty  prejudices.  We 
Methodists  do  not  yet  comprehend  the  sub- 
limity and  promise  of  our  cause.  We  have 
been  deluded  by  the  impression  that  ours  is  a 
particular  and  not  a  general  system — that  it  is 
api)licable  to  a  particular  class,  but  not  to  all 
classes.  Methodism  is  universal  in  its  adai)ta- 
tiiin.  We  are  bearing  up  unconsciously  before 
the  world  the  ensigns  of  the  Millennium.  Our 
doctrines  and  measures  have  been  transforminor 
other  sects ;  they  are  to  reach  the  savage  and 
the  sage,  the  slave  and  the  sovereign.     We  be- 


REQUIRKD     BY    THE    TIMES.  199 

lieve  it,  because  we  believe  they  are  tlie  tnitb. 
Give,  tlien,  to  Methodism  a  free  action.  Let  it 
appro^^riate  to  itselt  all  auxiliaries,  especially 
learning.  Its  gigantic  plans  are  suited  for  gi- 
gantic powers.  Throw  the  energies  of  a  sanc- 
tified and  educated  ministry  into  its  potent  sys- 
tem, and  it  will  produce  results  which  we  have 

not  yet  imagined Once   more:    it   is 

asserted  that  '  the  history  of  theological  schools, 
in  all  ages,  shows  their  influence  to  be  corrupt- 
ing.' If  we  object  to  theological  schools  be- 
cause they  have  been  abused,  we  may  also  ob- 
ject to  nearly  every  other  great  measure.  Epis- 
copacy was  observed  in  the  early  Church  as 
much  as  theological  schools ;  must  we  abandon 
it  on  that  account  ?  The  press  has  been  foully 
abused ;  are  we  therefore  to  turn  it  out  of  our 
Book  Concern?  Religion  has  been  perverted 
in  every  detail;  shall  we  therefore  turn  athe- 
ists ?  The  reason  of  the  corruption  of  theological 
schools  was  the  corruption  of  all  knowledge. 
Theological,  like  all  other  schools,  will  of  course 
be  affected  by  the  intellectual  state  of  the  age 
in  which  they  exist.  It  was  the  general  preva- 
lence of  the  new  Platonism  that  introduced 
error  into  the  Alexandrian  school.  But  it  in- 
troduced it  evervwhere  else  also.     It  infected 


/ 

200  ESSAYS    ON     THE    PREACHING 

Pliiloilie  Jew,  and  Longinus  the  Pagan,  as  well 
as  Origen  the  Christian.  It  was  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Aristotelian  dialectics  that  produced 
the  metaphysical  absurdities  of  the  schools  of 
the  middle  ages  ;  but  they  infected  every  other 
department  of  knowledge,  alike  with  theology. 
They  were  the  intellectual  characteristics  of  the 
times,  deluding  the  nioidc  in  his  secluded  medi- 
tations, as  well  as  the  student  in  the  school. 
But  we  live  in  a  different  age ;  science  is  now 
more  thoroughly  verified ;  a  new  mode  of  in- 
quiry has  been  introduced,  which  will  never 
allow  a  similar  confusion  of  knowledge.  There 
may  be  new  coiTuptions  in  theology,  but  they 
cannot  originate  as  did  those  upon  which  the 
objection  is  founded;  they  will  be  such  as  will 
be  more  likely  to  be  prevented  than  favored  by 
knowledge.  Theological  schools  have,  indeed, 
like  all  other  good  institutions  of  religion,  been 
corrupted;  but,  like  all  others,  they  have  also 
been  blessed.  It  would  seem,  from  history,  that 
Providence  has  wedded  religion  and  knowledge, 
and  signalized  ihcir  union  in  most  of  the  great 
events  of  the  Church.  The  fii"st  rays  of  return- 
ing daylight,  after  the  dark  ages,  streamed  forth 
upon  the  world  from  the  cloistere  of  the  Uni- 
vcrsitv  of  AVittoin]»er£r.     It  was  from  its  irates 


KEQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  201 

that  Martin  Luther  came  forth,  with  the  Bible 
in  his  hands,  to  summon  the  world  to  its  moral 
resurrection.  It  was  from  the  University  of 
Geneva  that  Calvin,  at  the  same  time,  was 
sounding  the  alarm  among  the  Alps.  And 
where  did  the  next  great  revival  of  Christianity 
take  place?  It  was  among  the  theological  stu- 
dents of  Oxford.  Yes!  Methodism,  now  so 
fearful  of  ministerial  education,  first  av^^oke  in 
the  cradle  of  English  learning.  It  sounded  its 
first  trump,  and  commenced  its  march  over  the 
world,  in  the  gates  of  a  university.  "Where  did 
the  first  conception  of  foreign  missions,  from 
the  American  Churches,  originate  ?  Within  the 
walls  of  a  theological  school;  and  from  that 
school  have  gone  to  the  pagan  world  a  greater 
number  of  devoted  men  tlian  from  any  other 
source  in  our  land.  The  theological  school  at 
Basle,  in  Switzerland,  has  been  one  of  the 
greatest  fountains  of  religious  influence  that  is 
in  Europe,  The  one  at  Geneva  is  now  the 
chief  instrumentality  in  restoring  the  principles 
of  the  lieformation  to  Switzerland  and  France. 
The  great  defenders  of  religion  have  nearly  all 
been  educated  theologians.  Science  has  no  le- 
gitimate tendency  to  evil ;  it  is  the  echo  of  thp 
same  voice  which  speaks  in  revelation.     Reve- 


202  ESSAYS     OS     Tin:    PKEACniNG 

lation  itself  has  as  often  been  used  for  the  sup- 
port of  error,  as  science;  and  the  one  must  be 
rejected  on  the  same  ground  that  the  other  is." 

After  this  long  insertion,  we  hope  there  will 
be  no  charge  of  timid  partiality  on  the  question, 
against  this  publication  at  least.  The  extract 
certainly  has  ardor  enough,  if  it  has  not  an  ex- 
cess of  arsument.  We  leave  our  readei-s  to 
judge  of  the  latter.  They  are  as  competent  as 
oui-selves  to  distinguish  between  its  logic  and 
its  rhetoric. 

It  is  due  to  the  advocates  of  this  measure  to 
say,  that  they  are  of  various  opinions  respecting 
it.  Some  of  them  think  that  departments  of 
theological  instruction,  suitable  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  ministerial  candidates,  can  be  connected 
with  our  academies  and  colleges.  Othei-s, 
though  very  few,  we  suppose,  advocate  a  high 
theological  seminary,  modeled  after  the  best  in 
other  Churches,  and  requiring  considerable  pre- 
paratory, if  not  collegiate,  training — a  proposi- 
tion which  appeai-s  to  us  practically  absurd  in 
tlie  present  circumstances  of  our  ministry. 
Othei-s,  and  doubtless  the  greatest  number,  pro- 
pose separate  seminaries,  on  the  i)]an  ot  the 
"  Wesleyan  Theological  Institutions,"  which 
shall   be    adai>ti'<l    lo   the   actual  wants  of  the 


KEQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  203 

student,  Avliatever  may  be  the  deficiencies  of  his 
education,  and  shall  combine  with  their  in- 
tellectual advantages  thorough  training  in  such 
social  and  j^astoral  habits  as  may  especially  befit 
his  future  office  :  they  would  have  them  be 
"schools  of  the  prophets," — ministerial  house- 
holds, maintained  under  a  strictly-religious  regi- 
men, and  excluding  the  perverting  influences 
and  invidious  prejudices  which  they  allege 
would  aflect  our  young  candidates  in  common 
academies  or  colleges.  Such  is  the  experiment 
now  being  made  among  our  brethren  of  the 
eastern  States. 

AVe  have  thus  attempted  to  show  what  was 
the  cliaracter  of  our  primitive  ministry  j  how 
far  its  preaching  and  methods  are  still  needed  ; 
what  improvcTTients,  homiletic  ones  at  least,  are 
required  by  the  times ;  and  some  of  the  means 
by  which  it  is  proposed  to  secure  these  improve- 
ments. Our  cause  has  reached  a  maturity  and 
magnitude  in  this  nation  which  give  no  little 
importance  to  such  questions,  and  we  dismiss 
the  subject  with  the  conviction  that,  however 
we  have  failed  to  do  it  justice,  it  cannot  fail  to 
command  the  interest  of  our  readers. 


204     ESSAYS  ON  THE  PREACHING 


ESSAY    IX. 

METHODIST  PEEACHINQ  — DISTINGUISHED  EXAMPLES. 

Peculiar  Advantages  of  Methodism  for  Men  of  Talent  —  C'barac- 
teristics  of  Summerfield  —  His  History —Peculiarities  of  his 
Eloquence  —  Habits  as  an  Extemporizer  —  Personal  Traits  — 
Death  —  Cookman  —  Biographical  Facts — Style  of  his  Elo- 
quence —  His  Appearance  —  His  Martial  Spirit  —  Bascom  —  His 
Personal  Advantages  —  Style  —  Defects  and  Excellences  of  his 
Genius — Fisk — His  Appearance  —  Vocal  Advantage  —  Manner 
in  the  Pulpit  —  Polemical  Propensity  —  Christian  Perfection  — 
Estimate  of  his  Talents  — Olin  — His  Religious  Character- 
Social  Character  —  Scholarship — Eloquence  —  Anecdote  —  Style 
—  Opinions — Comparative  Remarks  —  Conclusion. 

After  affirming,  on  a  preceding  page,  that 
there  were  scattered  all  through  our  ranks  able 
representatives  of  the  great  modern  interests  of 
Christianity,  as  well  as  of  its  ordinary  pulpit, 
instinictions,  we  remarked  that  "  our  ministry 
has  not  been  without  a  class  of  men  preeminent 
even  above  these,  for  rei)utation  at  least — '  men 
of  renown  '  in  the  Church."  Summerfield,  Bas- 
com, Fisk,  and  Olin,  were  named  as  exami)h's. 

Tlie  peculiar  unity  of  our  Church,  resulting 
from  its  itinerant  episcopacy,  and  the  inter- 
change of  its  pastors,  has  been  highly  favorable 
to  the  reputation  of  such  men.     Tliey  have  been 


REQ  HIKED     BY    THE     TIMES.  205 

recognized  as  the  common  rei^resentatives  and 
common  favorites  of  the  denomination.     They 
moved  extensively  through  its  territory,  not  as 
foreign  visitors,  but  as  honored  members  of  one 
great  family,  leaders  in  the  common  pastorate. 
In  no  other  denomination  of  the  land  has  this 
sentiment  of  fraternity  been  so  prevalent  and  so 
characteristic.     Besides  its  moral  beauty,  it  has 
been  of  no  little  practical  value ;  a  great  idea, 
a  great  deed,  or  a  great  man,  has  always  had  a 
wider  sway  among  us  than  among  other  Church- 
es.    While  the  reputation  of  eminent  preachers 
in  more  localized  or  more  restricted  commu- 
nions has  been  analogous  to  that  of  leaders  in 
the  State  legislatures,  the  fame  of  our  distin- 
guished preachers,  and   its  moral   power,  has 
been  analogous  to  the  national  fame  and  influ- 
ence of  our  great  congressional  leaders.     With 
the  increase  and  consolidation  of  the  Church 
this  advantage  is  disappearing — perhaps  inevi- 
tably.    It  gave  to  the  class  of  men  referred  to  a 
standing  among  us,  similar  to  that  which  the 
great  preachers  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  occu- 
pied among  the  clergy  of  France.     We  may 
have  hereafter  as  great  men  intrinsically,  but 
they  can  hardly  wield  as  extended  a  sway  over' 
the  general  mind  of  the  Chm*ch. 


206  ESSAYS    ON    THE     PREACHING 

We  propose  to  attempt,  in  this  our  concluding 
chapter,  characteristic  sketches  of  some  of  our 
most  notable  preachei*s, — not  elaborate  estimates 
or  finished  portraits,  but  rapid  drawings  — 
"  sketches,"  as  our  title  says — and  not  for  the 
purpose  of  presenting  them  as  pulpit  models, 
but  as  pulpit  studies,  affording  examples  of  both 
excellences  and  defects,  and  at  the  same  time 
not  without  interest  as  specimens  of  personal 
character. 

SrNEsrERFiELD  was  the  first  of  general  fame, 
and,  unquestionably,  one  of  the  very  best. 

Fragrant  still  are  the  associations  of  that  en- 
deared name.  A  chaste  style  ;  fertility  of  good 
but  not  extraordinary  thought,  adorned  fre- 
quently, however,  by  aj^posite  figures;  the 
facility  of  a  remarkably  colloquial  manner, 
which  made  his  hearers  feel  as  if  they  had  a 
sort  of  interlocutory  participation  in  the  dis- 
course ;  and,  above  all,  an  indescribably  sweet 
spirit  of  piety — the  very  personality  of  the 
speaker  sanctified,  and  revealing  itself  in  his 
tones,  looks,  and  gestures — were  the  traits  of 
this  extraordinary  man. 

This  manifestation  of  his  pei'sonal  character- 
istics had  nothing,  liowever,  of  egotism  about  it. 


REQUIRED     BY     THE    TIMES.  207 

It  was  not  i^reaching  himself  instead  of  Christ, 
but  Christ  in  himself,  as  well  as  in  his  subject; 
so  that  Christ  was  presented  at  once  both  "  ob- 
jectively" and  "subjectively,"  as  the  Germans 
would  say,  and  thus  became  "  all  in  all."  The 
fame  of  few  men  has  depended  less  upon 
original  talent,  and  more  on  personal  disposi- 
tions, than  that  of  Summerfield.  Tliough  the 
most  transcendent  in  his  reputation,  he  was,  at 
the  same  time,  the  most  imitable  of  our  eminent 
preachers.  Simplicity,  placidity,  meekness,  and 
a  colloquial  manner,  combined  with  good  but 
not  great  ideas,  certainly  would  seem  to  be  of 
easy  acquisition.  Still  the  imitation  of  the  ex- 
cellences of  a  model,  however  desirable,  is  often 
found  exceedingly  difficult.  To  copy  a  model 
entire  is  impracticable,  and  always  results  in  ab- 
surd defects,  for  the  moral  idiosyncrasies  of  men 
give  an  individuahty  to  their  character  and 
manner  which  must  remain  inexorably  distinct 
from  all  resemblances,  as  the  differences  of  faces 
show  themselves  notwithstanding  any  similarity 
of  features.  Only  such  as  are  similar  in  these 
idiosyncrasies  could  possibly  imitate  each  other's 
excellences.  Henry  B.  Bascom  would  have 
become  ridiculous  with  the  pulpit  manner  of 
John  Summerfield.     Men,  however,  of  tranquil 


208  ESSAYS     ON     TllK     I'K  E  ACII 1  >.' G 

dispositions,  of  neat  style  and  ready  flow  of 
thought,  ranking  now  onlj^  at  mediocrity,  might 
place  his  example  before  them  with  peculiar  ad- 
vantage. A  deep  consecration  like  his,  a  simple 
and  direct  aim  to  reach  the  heart  rather  than 
inflame  the  imagination  of  the  hearer,  the  melt- 
ins;  and  outflowino;  of  one's  whole  individuality 
in  the  discom*se — these  are  not  difiicult  to  such 
men,  and  a  better  example  of  what  success  they 
can  attain  is  not  on  record  than  that  of  Sum- 
merfield. 

Tlie  best  judges,  who  were  familiar  with  Sum- 
merfield's  preaching,  find  it  impossible  to  tell 
precisely  in  what  its  interest  consisted. 

We  venture  to  repeat  that  the  solution  of  the 
problem  is  to  be  found  mostly,  if  not  wholly,  in 
what  the  French  would  call  the  naturel  of  the 
man — the  beautiful  compatibility  between  the 
preacher  and  his  preaching — a  harmony  that' 
revealed  itself  in  liis  looks,  his  tones,  his  ges- 
tures, and  all  the  subtler  indications  of  verbal 
style,  mental  aptitudes,  and  moral  dispositions. 
AVe  have  only  to  suppose  him  strongly  charac- 
terized by  other  traits  than  those  mentioned,  to 
perceive  at  once  that  he  must  have  been  an  en- 
tirely different  preacher.  Had  he  possessed  the 
same  intellectual  capacities,  but  been  hntsquCy 


REQUIKED    BY    TilE    TIMES.  209 

or  denunciatoiy,  or  satirical- — had  he  been  tinged 
strongly  with  moroseness,  misanthropy,  or  self- 
conceit,  his  pnlpit  characteristics  would  have 
been  different;  he  never  could  have  won  the 
peculiar  fame  which  attaches  to  his  memory ; 
he  would  probably  have  gone  down  to  the  grave 
without  public  distinction.  With  a  mind  sus- 
ceptible of  all  graceful  impressions,  a  heart 
whose  sensibility  was  feminine — yet  with  such 
feminineness  as  we  ascribe  to  angels,  and  think 
of  as  consistent  with  mighty  though  serene 
sti-ength' — he  united  the  very  sanctity  of  religion 
and  a  simplicity  of  purpose  which  saved  him 
utterly  from  the  affectations  or  artifices  that 
might  have  marred  his  character,  and  quite 
changed  the  effect  of  his  preaching. 

Montgomery,  the  poet,  expressed -a  just  crit- 
ical estimate  of  him  when  he  said  :• — • 

"  Summerfield  had  intense  animal  feeling,  and 
much  of  morbid  imagination  ;  but  of  poetic  feel- 
ing, and  poetic  imagination,  very  little — at  least 
there  is  very  little  trace  of  either  in  anything 
that  he  has  left,  beyond  a  few  vivid  l)ut  moment- 
ary flashes  in  his  sermons." 

■     This  "  animal  feeling,"  however,  must  be  un- 
derstood to  have  been  refined  and  intensified  by 

divine  grace  into  the  holiest  moral  affections; 
14 


210  ESSAYS     ON    THE     T  j:  K  A  (^  11 1  N  fl 

80  that  the  s^Tnpathetic  instincts  of  the  natural 
heart  became  in  him  pure  rehgious  passions, 
and  seemed  such  as  might  befit  the  bosom  of  a 
seraph. 

His  appearance  in  tlie  pulpit  was  expressive 
of  his  character,  and  contributed  much  to  the 
effect  of  his  discourse.  Though  his  face  possessed 
nothing  at  first  and  near  view  remarkably  strik- 
ing or  agreeable,  yet  when  irradiated  with  tlie 
fervor  of  his  feelings,  it  was  angelically  beauti- 
ful. Tlie  portrait  which  accompanied  Holhmd's 
memoir  is  considered  a  good  one,  but  it  fails  to 
represent  the  glowing  life  that  played  over  his 
features  and  radiated  from  his  eyes.  The  languor 
of  disease  could  not  mar  this  moral  beauty;  it 
rather  enhanced  it,  by  adding  a  delicacy  which 
could  not  fail  to  associate  with  the  hearer's 
admiration  a  sentiment  of  tender  and  even 
loving  spnpathy.  His  voice  was  not  strong,  but 
exceedingly  flexible  and  sweet,  and  harmonized 
always  with  the  vibrations  of  his  feelings.  His 
gestures  did  not  violate  the  ndes  of  the  art,  but 
seemed  not  the  result  of  it.  They  were  unex- 
ceptionably  natural,  and  yet  naturally  confonned 
to  the  art.  He  was,  in  fine,  so  exempt  from 
artifice,  he  so  entirely  surrendered  himself  to 
the   occlusion   and    its   concomitants,    whatever 


EEQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  211 

the}'  might  be,  that  he  spontaneously  fell  into 
unison  with  tliem,  and  seemed  naturally  and 
immediately  to  acquire  that  mastery  over  them 
which  the  highest  art  camiot  always  command. 
Tliis  is  the  truest  genius.  Genius  is  not  inde- 
pendent of  art,  but  it  is  its  prerogative  often  to 
assume  it  intuitively,  reaching  its  results  with- 
out its  labors.  Labor  is  an  important  aid  to 
genius,  unquestionably;  the  latter  is  seldom 
notably  successful  without  the  former;  and  yet 
the  great  characteristic  of  genius  is  the  facility, 
tlie  indolent  ease,  even,  with  which  it  accom- 
plishes what  art,  without  genius,  reaches  only 
through  elaborate  assiduity.  Genius  suffers  more 
than  it  labore,  but  it  suffei*s  not  so  much  in 
action  as  in  reaction.  Its  sensibiHty  is  what 
mainly  gives  it  success,  but  it  often  inflicts  mis- 
ery also. 

Though  in  the  delivery  of  his  seiTaons  there 
was  this  facility — felicity  we  might  call  it — in 
their  preparation  he  was  a  laborious  student.  He 
*  was  a  hearty  advocate  of  extempore  j^reaching, 
and  would  have  been  deprived  of  most  of  his  pop- 
ular power  in  the  pulpit  by  being  confined  to  a 
manuscript;  yet  he  knew  the  importance  of 
study,  and  particularly  of  the  habitual  use  of 
the  pen  in  order  to  success  in  extemporaneous 


212  ESSAYS    ON     THE     rREACHING 

speaking.  His  own  rule  was  to  prepare  a 
skeleton  of  his  sermon,  and  after  preaching  it, 
write  it  out  in  fuller  detail,  filling  up  the  original 
sketch  Avith  the  princi])al  thoughts  which  had 
occurred  to  him  in  the  process  of  the  discourse. 
Tlie  first  outline  was,  however,  in  accordance 
with  the  rule  we  have  elsewhere  given  for 
extempore  speaking,  viz.,  that  the  perepective 
of  the  entire  discourse — the  leading  ideas,  from 
the  exordium  to  the  peroration — should  he 
noted  on  the  manuscript,  so  that  the  speaker 
shall  have  the  assurance  that  he  is  supplied  with 
a  consecutive  series  of  good  ideas,  good  enough 
to  command  the  respect  of  his  audience,  though 
he  should  fail  of  any  very  important  impromptu 
thoughts.  Tliis  rule  we  deem  the  most  essential 
condition  of  success  in  extemporaneous  preach- 
ing. It  is  the  best  guarantee  of  that  confidence 
and  self-possession  upon  which  depends  the 
command  of  both  thought  anil  language.  Sum- 
merfield  followed  it  even  in  his  i»latform 
speeches.  Montgomery  notices  the  minuteness 
of  his  prej^arations  in  nearly  two  hundred 
manuscript  sketches. 

lie  exem]>lified  his  own  views  respecting  the 
use  of  the  pen,  as  an  aid  to  extempore  style. 
Besides    the    lar<re    number    of   sermons    and 


REQUIRED     BY     TIIK    TIMES.  213 

sketches  just  mentioned,  tilling  seven  post-octavo 
volumes,  he  left  two  considerable  volumes,  one 
"  a  counting-house  leger,"  filled  with  exegetical 
notes  on  the  Scriptures,  in  such  minute  penman- 
ship, and  with  so  many  abbreviations,  that  it  is 
said  they  can  scarcely  be  "deciphered  without 
a  glass." 

A  volume  of- his  sermons  and  sketches  of  ser- 
mons has  been  published.  They  aflford  no  evi-^' 
dence  of  the  transcendent  power  of  the  preacher. 
The  "skeletons"  contained  in  this  volume  illus- 
trate, however,  his  pulpit  style;  to  such  as  heard 
him  often  they  must  recall  the  image  and 
indescribable  manner  of  the  preacher,  his  fiicil- 
ity  of  thought,  his  colloquial  and  abrupt  style, 
the  fervent  variability  of  his  feelings.  They 
may  be  taken  also  as  specimens  of  his  outline 
preparations.  Not  only  are  the  leading  thoughts 
noted,  but  abundance  of  illustrative  details  also. 
The  pithy  Scripture  allusions  with  which  they 
abound  are  characteristic  of  his  discourses;  his 
own  diction  was  sententiously  Saxon,  but  its 
terseness  and  simple  beauty  were  continually 
enhanced  by  remarkably  apt  Biblical  phrases. 
His  style  was  a  mosaic  of  pertinent  and  beauti-  ' 
ful  texts.  Tlie  cpiotation  of  a  single  word  would 
sometimes    terminate   a   climax   with   brilliant 


214  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

effect,  or  conclude  an  illustration  ^vith  epigram- 
matic significance. 

There  was  one  respect  in  which  Sumnierfield 
was  a  model  for  all  public  speakei-s,  viz.,  in  the 
ease,  as  we  have  described  it,  with  which  he 
undertook  his  pulpit  tasks.  Doubtless  he  felt 
the  usual  anxieties  of  preparation,  in  the  study; 
but  having  made  his  preparations,  and  com- 
mitted them  and  himself  to  God  in  prayer,  he 
seemed  to  enter  upon  his  public  duties  dis- 
burdened of  all  care.  There  was  no  elaborate 
effort  of  thought  or  language — no  flutteriiii:: 
after  lofty  flights.  If,  as  we  have  said,  prepara- 
tion is  the  most  essential  condition  of  success  in 
extemporaneous  discoui-se,  this  facility,  this  self- 
possession,  the  result  of  preparation  and  of  the 
absence  of  all  egotistical  aims,  is  assuredly  the 
second.  We  affirm  that  failure  is  next  to  impos- 
ssible  to  him  who  acquires  the  habit  of  prepara- 
tion. "Who  that  has  a  suitable  supply  of  thoughts, 
on  a  given  subject,  would  expect  to  fail  of  an  easy 
communication  of  them  in  his  family  circle,  at 
the  fire-side?  The  right  language  will  come  to' 
him  "of  itself,"  and  the  right  modulation,  and, 
if  the  subject  demands  it,  pathos,  solemnity,  or 
denunciation.  IIow  naturally  docs  he  assume 
the  ai)propriatc  expression  both  of  voice  and 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  215 

gesture!  Why  can  we  not  liave  equal  facility  in 
the  pulpit?  Mostly  because  of  the  restraints 
which  our  powers  suffer  from  our  egotistical 
anxieties,  our  attempts  to  do  something  great. 
Simplicity  is  an  element  of  all  true  greatness. 
He  that  would  be  successful,  especially  in  public 
speaking,  should  study  his  subject  till,  as  we 
have  above  said,  he  feels  that  he  has  provided 
.  lessons  which  his  hearers  will  respect,  and  then, 
UTianxious  about  himself,  simply  intent  on  the 
task  before  him,  enter  directly  and  calmly  into 
it.  He  will  soon  lose  himself  in  his  subject. 
Language  better  than  he  could  ever  have  elaboi*- 
ated  in  the  study  will  flow  from  his  lips.  His 
sincere  and  self-possessed  spirit  will  be  suscept- 
ible to  the  pathos,  the  severity,  or  "the  dignity 
which  the  different  phases  of  his  theme  inspire. 
A  natural  and  therefore  beautiful  compatibility 
will  usually  exist  between  his  subject  and  his 
own  mood,  and  not  unfrequently  the  latter  will 
be  exalted  by  the  former  to  the  loftiest  eleva- 
tions of  thought.  This  we  again  affirm  was 
Summerfield's  great  pulpit  characteristic. 

Wliat  would  have  been  the  effect  of  years  on 
the  eloquence  of  Summerfield?  The  question 
occurs  to  us  very  naturally,  and  is  a  curious  one 
at  least.     We   so   spontaneously   associate  his 


216  ESSAYS    ON     THE     PREACHING 

juvenile  delicacy  and  beauty  with  the  impres- 
sion of  his  preaching,  that  we  can  hardly  con- 
ceive of  him  as  the  same  man,  in  middle  life  or 
old  age.  He  was  but  about  twenty  yeai-s  old 
when  he  began  to  preach,  but  twenty-three  when 
he  arrived  in  America,  and  only  twenty-seven 
when  he  died.  His  personal  appearance  first 
excited  the  anxiety  of  the  hearer,  next  won  his 
sympathy,  until  he  discovered  in  it  at  last,  by 
the  contrast  of  his  mature  and  resjilendent  abil- 
ity, only  an  additional  reason  for  wonder  and 
admiration.  The  cii'cumstances  under  wliich  his 
second  appearance  in  public,  after  his  arrival  in 
this  country,  took  place,  very  happily  concurred 
to  enhance  this  advantage.  It  was  on  the  anni- 
versary platform  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 
A  masterly  address  liad  just  been  pronounced 
by  an  eminent  clergyman;  murmurs  of  apphiuse 
were  audible  in  the  assembly.  Dr.  Bethune, 
who  was  present,  says: — 

"The  chair  announced  the  Eev.  Mr.  Summer- 
field,  from  England.  'AVhat  presumption!'  said 
my  clerical  neighbor;  'a  boy  like  tliat  to  be  set 
up  after  a  giant!'  But  the  stripling  came  in  the 
name  of  the  God  of  Israel,  armed  with  'a  few 
smooth  stones  from  the  brook'  that  flows  'hard 
by  the  oracles  of  God.'     His  motion  was  one  of 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  217 

thanks  to  tlie  officers  of  the  society  for  their 
labors  during  the  year;  and  of  course  he  had 
to  allude  to  the  president,  then  reposing  in 
another  part  of  the  house  ;  and  thus  he  did  it: — 
'AVhen  I  saw  that  venerable  man,  too  aged  to 
warrant  the  hope  of  being  with  you  at  another 
anniversary,  lie  reminded  me  of  Jacob  leaning 
upon  the  to])  of  Ms  staff,  hlessing  his  children 
before  he  departed.''  He  then  passed  on  to  en- 
courage the  society  by  the  exam^^le  of  the  British 
institution.  'When  we  first  lanclied  our  untried 
vessel  upon  the  deep,  the  storms  of  opposition 
roared,  and  the  waves  dashed  angrily  around 
us,  and  we  had  hard  work  to  keep  her  head  to 
the  wind.  We  were  faint  with  rowing,  and  our 
strength  would  soon  have  been  gone,  but  we 
cried,  "Lord,  save  us,  or  we  perish!"  When  a 
light  shone  ujpoii  the  waters,  and  we  saw  a  form 
walking  upon  the  trotd>led  sea,  like  luito  that  of 
the  Son  of  God,  and  he  drew  near  the  ship,  and 
we  knew  that  it  %vas  Jesus ^  and  he  stepped  upon 
the  deck,  and  laid  his  hand  on  the  helm,  and  he 
said  unto  the  winds  and  waves,  Peace,  he  still, 
and  there  was  a  great  calm.  Let  not  the  friends 
of  the  Bible  fear;  God  is  in  the  midst  of  us. 
God  shall  help  us,  and  that  right  early.'  In  such 
a  strain  he  went  on  to  the  close.     'Wonderful! 


218  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACIIING 

wonderful!'  said  my  neiglibor  the  critic;  'he 
talks  like  an  angel  from  heaven.'" 

"He  talked  like  an  angel,"  not  merely  because 
his  thoughts  were  excellent,  but  because  the 
visible  man,  clothed  with  physical  delicacy  and 
youthfulness,  and  glowing  with  moral  Ijeauty, 
seemed  an  embodiment  of  your  ideal  of  an 
angelic  apparition.  Riper  years  would  doubt- 
less have  modified  this  peculiar  charm  of  his 
youthfulness ;  but  we  doubt  that  they  could 
have  marred  the  effect  of  liis  eloquence;  we 
doubt  it,  for  the  good  reason  that  his  oratory 
was  perfectly  natural.  Being  natural,  it  would 
have  been  permanent  as  his  nature,  taking  new 
hues  from  the  changes  of  life,  but  only  such  as 
being  congenial  willi  tliose  changes  M'ould  ren- 
der it  congruous  with  them — would  sustain  his 
beautiful  naturalness.  AVe  suppose,  therefore, 
that  if  Summei-field's  eloquence  had  lost  some 
of  its  juvenile  traits  in  maturer  years,  it  would 
have  gained  in  riper  and  riclier  qualities,  as 
good  wine  gains  in  zest,  tliough  it  loses  in 
sweetness,  by  age.  Emanating  as  it  did  from 
the  very  nature  of  the  man,  we  can  imagine  it 
to  have  retained  its  essential  chai'm  uninjured, 
though  varied,  even  in  old  age ;  and  if  John 
Summei-field  had  lived  to  hoary  yeai*s,  we  can 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  219 

conceive  of  liim  only  as  tlie  St.  John  of  his  day 
— the  beloved  disciple,  who  still  saw  the  visions 
of  God,  and  upon  whose  lij)s,  as  was  said  of 
Plato,  bees  from  the  flowers  had  shed  their 
honey. 

In  private  life  Snmmerfield  was,  if  possible, 
still  more  interesting  than  in  the  pnlpit.  He 
was  fertile  in  conversation.  He  had  a  flowino- 
but  delicate  humor,  quite  Addisonian  in  its 
character,  always  appropriate  but  never  sarcas- 
tic. His  extraordinary  memory  rendered  him  fa- 
miliar with  the  names  of  all  who  were  introduced 
to  him,  even  children  and  servants — he  seldom 
or  never  forgot  them.  Above  all,  he  had  the 
happy  faculty  of  introducing  into  all  circles 
appropriate  subjects  of  religious  conversation. 
There  was  no  cant  about  him,  no  overweening 
endeavor  to  impress  the  eager  groups  around 
him  with  a  sense  of  his  clerical  scrupulousness, 
but  an  unaiFected  respectfulness,  a  confiding 
courtesy,  which  conciliated  the  listener  and 
compelled  him  to  look  upon  any  devout  remark 
as  happily  congruous  to  tlie  occasion,  and  even 
felicitously  befitting  to  the  man. 

An  incurable  malady  reminded  him  that  he 
must  work  while  the  day  lasted,  for  the  night 
was  at  hand.     He  was  incessant  in  liis  labors, 


/ 

220  ESSAYS    ON    TIIK    PREACHING 

preacliing  often  from  five  to  teu  discourses  a 
week.  Besides  frequent  addresses,  in  which  he 
was  remarkably  liajjpy,  he  delivered  about  four 
hundred  sermons  in  the  first  year  and  a  half  of 
his  ministry.  Throughout  his  brief  but  laborious 
career  he  bore  about  with  him  that  "morbid 
feeUng"  of  which  Montgomery  sj^eaks,  and 
wdiich  seems  indeed  a  usual  pathological  accom- 
paniment of  genius.*  His  conversion  was  clear 
and  decided,  yet  in  his  subsequent  religious 
exj)erience  he  was  subject  to  severe  inward 
conflicts,  and  Holland  has  justly  remarked  that 
"  the  light  of  spiritual  illumination  in  him  (what- 
ever may  have  been  the  case  in  others)  did 
not  uninterruptedly  shine  'brighter  and  Ijrightcr 
unto  the  perfect  day;'  but  clouds  and  darkness 
frequently  intercepted  the  rays  of  that  Sun  of 
righteousness  which  had  so  evidently  arisen  on 
his  soul.  Indeed,  the  Lord  seems  to  have  led 
his  servant,  not  with  the  shadow  by  day,  and 
the  glory  by  night,  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire, 
but  alternately^  amidst  perpetual  natural  gloom, 
presenting  to  him  the  light  of  the  flame  that 
cheered  the  Israelites  on  the  verge  of  the  Red 
Sea,  and  the  darkness  behind  that  frowned  upon 

*  "Genius,"  says  Ilcync,  the  Gorman,  "is  a  disease,  as 
the  pearl  is  in  the  oyster." 


REQITIKED     BY     THE    TIMES.  221 

the  Egyptians  their  pursuers.  But  God  who  is 
'love,'  was  equally  present  to  him  in  the  splen- 
dor and  terror — in  the  hidings  as  in  the  reveal- 
ings  of  his  face — and  by  that  mysterious  dis- 
pensation, we  cannot  doubt,  led  him,  as  the  best 
mode  of  guidance,  through  the  sea  and  the 
wilderness,  over  Jordan  to  Canaan  and  Jerusa- 
lem, which  is  above." 

This  was  his  discipline ;  he  needed  it  amidst  the 
perilous  flatteries  of  his  success.  It  was  prob- 
ably one  of  the  most  effectual  causes  of  that 
profound  humility  which  was  at  once  the  pro- 
tection and  the  cliarm  of  his  saintly  character. 
Could  we  read  the  inmost  history  of  most  of  the 
mighty  men  of  God  in  the  earth,  we  should  find 
that  they  have  been  summoned  by  him  to  con- 
front, like  Moses,  the  fiery  terrors  of  Sinai,  or  like 
Daniel,  to  call  upon  him  from  the  lions'  den,  or 
like  Paul,  to  bear  with  them  to  the  grave  the 
thorn  in  the  flesh. 

The  youthful  hero,  wounded  in  the  well-sus- 
tained conflict,  retired  at  last  to  his  tent  to  die. 
"  Well — yes — well — all  is  well"  "  I  want  a  change 
— a  change  of  form — a  change  of  everything," 
he  said  feebly  as  the  last  struggle  approached. 
"All — though — sin — has — entered  :"  but  his  ut- 
terance failed  in  the  quotation.     ISTight  came 


222  ESSAYS    ON     THE     PliEACUING 

on;  with  increased  energy  he  exclaimed,  "All's 
perfection !"    "  Good-night  /"  were  his  last  words. 

George  G.  Cookman  disappeared  from  our 
midst  by  a  terrible  disaster  in  the  prime  of  his 
manhood,  and  at  a  i>eriod  in  his  ministerial 
career  when  the  star  of  his  fame  seemed  about  to 
culminate,  and  attract  the  gaze  not  only  of  the 
Church  but  of  the  nation.  If  he  had  not  a  rep- 
utation co-extensive  with  that  of  the  other  char- 
acters sketched  in  these  pages,  none  who  knew 
him  can  doubt  that  it  would  have  sooner  or 
later  ranked  him  with  some  of  thcni,  and  be- 
yond others,  had  it  not  been  for  the  premature 
termination  of  his  course. 

He  was  bom  in  1800,  at  Hull,  England,  and 
came  of  a  good  old  Wesleyan  stock.  His 
father,  a  man  of  wealth  and  of  high  respecta- 
bility, was  a  Methodist  local  preacher,  and  his 
early  domestic  education  tended  to  form  the  s(m 
for  the  work  of  his  life.  "While  yet  very  young 
he  gave  evidence  of  his  peculiar  capabilities 
for  piiblic  speaking,  on  the  platform  of  Sunday- 
school  and  juvenile-missionary  anniversaries. 
Some  of  these  efforts  of  his  childhood  are  said 
to  have  excited  extraordinary  interest. 

In  his  eighteenth  year  the  death  of  a  j'oung 


REQ  HIKED    BY    THE    TIMES,  223 

friend  left  a  profound  impression  npon  his  mind, 
which  resulted  in  liis  conversion.     When  about 
twenty-one  years  old  he  visited  this  country,  on 
business  for  his  father,  and  while  at  Schenec- 
tady, Kew-York,  received  the  impression  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  devote  his  life  to  the  Christian 
ministry.     He  began  there,  we  beheve,  his  la- 
bors as  a  local  preacher.     In  1821  he  returned 
to  IIul],  and  entered  into  business  with  his   fa- 
tJier,  exercising  his  talents  meanwhile  zealously 
in  the  Wesleyan  local  ministry.     He  continued 
in  his  father's  firm  during  four  years,  but  with 
a. restless  spirit;  his    ardent  heart   panted   for 
entire  devotion    to    Christian   labors.     So  pro- 
found was  liis    conviction   of  his   duty  in   this 
respect  that   it  visibly  affected  him  ;    and   his 
father,  prizing  him,  with  an  Englislnnan's  regard, 
as  his  eldest  son,  and  the  representative  of  his 
family,  but  perceiving  that  lie  "  must  go,'^  gave 
him  up,  and  bade  him  depart  with  God's  bless- 
ing.    Having  witnessed  the  heroic  labors  and 
triumphs  of  the  Methodist  preachers  on  this  coii- 
tinent,  he  resolved  to  join  them,  and  forthwith 
took  passage  for  Philadelphia.     After  laboring 
a  few  months  in  that  city,  as  a  local  preacher, 
he  was  received  into  tlie  Philadelpln'a  Confer- 
ence in  1826.     He  continued  in  the  itinerant 


224  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PKEACIIING 

ranks,  witliout  intermission,  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  laboring  M'ith  indomitable  energy,  and 
constantly  increasing  ability  and  success,  in 
various  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  New-Jei-sey, 
Maryland,  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Mr.  Cookman  was  slight,  but  sinewy  in  per- 
son, and  capable  of  gi*eat  endurance.  His  arms 
were  long,  and  gave  a  striking  peculiarity  to 
his  gestures.  His  eye  was  keen  and  brilliant, 
his  craniological  development  good,  but  not 
remarkable,  and  his  lean  features  were  galvanic 
with  an  energy  which,  Englishman  though  he 
was,  never  allowed  any  obese  accumulations  to 
form  beneath  them.  He  had  too  much  soul  to 
admit  of  fatness.  Let  not  the  Falstaft"  captains 
in  the  armies  of  Israel  frown  at  tlie  remark. 
"  Would  he  were  fatter,"  said  Ca?sar  of  Cassius, 
— but  Caesar  himself  was  lean,  and  he  feared 
the  leanness  of  Cassius,  because  it  had  meaning 
in  it, — "he  thinks  too  much."  Cookman's 
agile  movements  scouted  with  defiance  the 
morbid  monster,  and  kept  it  ever  in  distant 
abeyance.  Every  nerve  and  muscle  of  his  lithe 
fi'ame  seemed  instinct  with  the  excitement  of  his 
subject;  even  the  foot  often  liad  its  energetic 
gesture,  and  lie  took  no  little  perambulatory 
range  when  the  limits  of  the  desk  or  platform 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  225 

allowed  it.  Tlie  latter  was  his  favorite  place; 
never  did  popular  orator  revel  more  in  the 
licensed  liberties  of  the  platform.  All  his 
powers  were  brought  out  there,  and  lavished 
upon  the  occasion  with  absolute  prodigality, — 
strong  argumentation,  dazzling  imagery,  satire, 
pathos,  wit, — holding  his  hearers  in  a  sjdcII  of 
close,  clear  thought,  shaking  them  with  resistless 
strokes  of  humor,  melting  them  instanter  into 
tears,  or,  by  some  energetic  or  heroic  thought, 
throwing  the  whole  assembly  into  tumultuous 
agitation,  and  provoking  from  it  irrepressible 
responses.  If  at  such  times  his  manner"  tended 
to  boisterousness,  it  seemed  compatible  with  the 
scene :  it  is  not  the  zephyr  but  the  mighty  rush- 
ing wind  that  shakes  and  bends  the  forest. 

There  was  in  his  voice  a  strenuous,  silvery 
distinctness,  and  even  music,  which  enhanced 
much  the  effect  of  his  more  powerful  passages. 
In  a  large  house,  or  at  a  camp-meeting,  where 
he  was  usually  the  hero  of  the  field,  he  could 
send  its  pealing  notes,  with  thrilling  effect,  to 
the  remotest  hearer.  The  hall  of  Eepresentati.ves 
at  "Washington  never  echoed  more  eloquent 
tones,  or  more  eloquent  thoughts,  than  when  he 
occupied  its  rostrum  during  his  chaplaincy  to 
Congress.  He  was  peculiarly  successful  in  these 
15 


226  ESSAYS     ON    THE    PREACHING 

congi'essional  ministrations.  Notwithstanding 
tlie  vast  variety  of  character  and  prejudice  con- 
centrated at  the  national  metropolis,  during  the 
legislative  sessions,  he  was  a  universal  favorite. 
All  men  about  him  felt  that  whether  in  the 
humble  Methodist  pulpit,  or  amid  the  magniii- 
cence  of  the  national  capitol,  he  was  himself ; 
and  men  will  generally,  if  not  always,  wave 
their  personal  prejudices  in  the  presence  of 
talent  which  stands  forth  before  them  in  its 
simple  genuineness,  while  few  things  can  more 
effectually  defeat  real  ability  than  attempts  to 
exaggerate  it  by  dissembling  artifices.  The 
trickery  is  not  only  morally  ugly  by  its  disin- 
genuousness,  but  the  popular  sagacity,  much 
keener  than  is  commonly  supposed,  quickly 
perceives  it,  and  takes  an  egotistical  but  honest 
pride  in  defying  it.  Mr.  Cookman's  sermons 
oeiore  Congress  were  thoroughly  prepared; 
they  were  often  truly  great,  but  directly  to  the 
purpose,  and  stamped  throughout  with  the 
honest,  earnest  individuality  of  the  man.  There 
was  much  of  special  adaptation  in  them.  He 
was  always  apt  in  seizing  on  casual  events  for 
the  illustration  or  enforcement  of  his  subjects ; 
but  his  congressional  discourses  were  peculiarly 
distinguished  by  the   success  with   which   he 


KEtiUIKED     BY     THE     TIMES.  227 

availed  himself  of  tlie  exciting  incidents  of  the 
place  and  season.  These  discourses  had  also  a 
deep  moral  eifect  as  well  as  oratorical  interest. 
Several  of  his  distinguished  hearers,  both  in 
Congress  and  in  the  executive  department  of 
the  government,  were  awakened  to  a  personal 
interest  in  religion  by  his  powerful  appeals. 

He  was  characterized  by  a  sort  of  chivalry, 
a  martial  predilection,  which  gave  him  real 
bravery,  and  combative  promptness  and  energy. 
Tliis  was  one  of  the  strongest  elements  of  his 
nature.  Tlie  military  events  which  stirred  all 
Europe  during  his  youth,  doubtless  had"  an  in- 
fluence on  his  forming  character.  It  was  af- 
fected by  even  an  earlier  influence,  probably. 
"Mind  is  from  the  mother,"  says  Isaac  Taylor, 
and  the  characters  of  great  men,  especially, 
begin  to  form  mider  the  impressions  of  the  ma- 
ternal mind,  before  their  birth.  The  martial 
clangor  that  resounded  among  the  continental 
states,  and  filled  all  the  homes  of  England  with 
loyal  heroism,  at  the  end  of  the  last  century, 
had  possibly  an  efiect  on  the  morale  of  Cook- 
man.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  was  a  military 
fire  in  him  which  nothing  could  extino'uish,  and 
which,  sanctified  by  rehgion,  gave  an  heroic 
and  invincible  power  to  his  ministrations.      It 


228  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

influenced  his  imagery  and  his  very  language. 
It  revealed  itself  in  his  sermons,  in  his  exhorta- 
tions, his  very  prayers,  and  most  especially  in 
his  platform  addresses.  The  fii-st  of  the  latter 
that  we  open  upon  in  his  published"  Speeches"* 
is  an  example.  It  marshals  the  different  evan- 
gelical sects  of  the  country  into  a  general  mis- 
sionary conflict,  and  is  full  of  chivalric  spirit. 
His  martial  temper  rendered  his  assaults  on 
error  formidably  vigorous.  He  liked  right  well 
a  manful  encounter,  and  relished,  with  epi- 
curean zest,  a  pungent  sarcasm,  or  a  humorous 
thrust,  that  scattered  in  dismay  sophistry  or 
skeptical  conceit. 

He  had  good  sense,  and  a  good  amount  of  it ; 
but  his  imagination  was  his  dominant  faculty. 
It  furnished  him  incessantly  with  brilliant  illus- 
trations. Besides  the  minute  beauties  with 
which  it  interspersed  his  ordinary  discourses,  it 
sometimes  led  him  into  allegories  which  might 
have  entertained  the  dreams  of  the  Old  Tiuker 
of  Bedford.  Tlie  martial  Bible-Society  address 
at  New-Brunswick,  in  1828,  to  which  we  have 

*  Speeches  delivered  on  various  occasious  by  Rev. 
George  G.  Cookinan,  of  the  Baltimore  Annual  Conference, 
and  Chaplain  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  New- 
York:  Carlton  &  PhiUips,  200  Mulberry-street. 


REQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  229 

referred ;  the  mission  ship,  in  his  famous  Balti- 
more-Conference speech  of  1829;  the  widow 
and  her  daughters,  in  his  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  speech  of  1831 ;  and  the  personi- 
fication of  Liberalism,  (the  prodigal  son  of  the 
"  Spy  Bigotry,")  in  his  New-York  Sunday-school 
address  of  1832,  ai'e  examples.  It  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  had  he  devoted  himself  to  the 
production  of  a  work  in  this  rare  and  difficult  de- 
partment of  literature,  he  might  have  become 
a  worthy  disciple  of  the  glorious  old  dreamer 
of  Bedford  jail.  This  allegorizing  mood,  how- 
ever, befits  the  poet  better  than  the  orator. 

In  his  private  life  Mr.  Cookman  had  many 
attractions.  His  piety  was  deep,  and  he  was 
always  ready  for  any  good  word  or  work ;  but 
his  religion  never  interfered  with  his  enjoyment 
of  life.  He  relished  good  fellowship,  enlivening 
conversation,  and  the  entertainment  of  books. 
He  adhered  through  life,  we,  believe,-  to  the 
primitive  Methodist  costume.  It  was  not  the 
most  graceful  for  his  lank  person ;  but  under 
this  Quaker-like  external  primness  he  carried  a 
large  and  generous  heart — a  heart  which  seemed 
ever  juvenile  in  the  freshness  of  its  sentiments 
and  the  ardor  of  its  aspirations. 

On  the  11th  of  March,  1841,  he  embarked  in 


230  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

the  ill-fated  steamer,  President,  and  was  never 
heard  of  more. 

Henry  B.  Bascom  maintained  an  extraordi- 
nary reputation,  as  a  preacher,  down  to  the  last 
year  of  his  life.  He  entered  the  itinerant  min- 
istry in  1814,  when  yet  in  his  teens.  During 
fourteen  years  he  pursued  its  laborious  duties  in 
various  parts  of  the  West,  and  through  the  next 
twenty  years  occupied  honorable  positions  in 
our  literary  institutions,  either  as  President  or 
Professor.  He  was  at  last  elevated  to  the 
Episcopal  office  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  but  presided  in  only  one  an- 
nual conference,  on  his  return  from  which  he 
was  stricken  down  by  death,  in  tlie  very  matu- 
rity of  his  life  and  his  promotion. 

In  person  he  was  one  of  the  noblest  of  men — • 
substantially  built,  well  i:)roportioned,  with  full 
and  m^ly  features,  a  complexion  of  English 
ruddiness,  and  a  highly  intellectual  cerebral  de- 
velopment. His  voice  M-^as  commanding,  re- 
markably orotund,  and  even  melodious,  till 
aifected  by  habitual  sniitf-taking. 

The  candid  critic  must  find  it  difficult  to  de- 
lineate well  his  pulpit  character.  His  inanner  in 
the   desk  was   conformed  to   the  rules  of  the 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  231 

oratorical  art — strictly  so.  This  fact  secured  him 
from  the  irregular  violence  of  voice  aud  gesture 
to  which  his  impetuous  feelings  naturally  tended, 
but  at  the  same  time  rendered  his  manner  facti- 
tious and  elaborate,  especially  in  passages  of 
studied  beauty,  where  the  attempt  at  effect, 
however  laudable,  became  too  manifest.  This 
was  in  fine  a  characteristic  of  Dr.  Bascom's 
eloquence  throughout ;  devoted  as  he  was  to  the 
art,  he  did  not  attain  that  perfection  in  it  by 
which  its  labor  is  concealed  or  rather  superseded. 
"Nature,"  some  one  has  said,  "is  the  highest 
art ;"  and  to  get  clear  of  our  factitious"  habits 
and  become  aesthetically  true  to  nature,  in  any- 
thing, is  perfection.  Powerful  as  were  some  of 
Dr.  Bascom's  efforts,  the  intelligent  hearer 
could  hardly  divest  himself  of  the  conscious- 
ness tliat  he  was  listening  to  a  proposed  example 
of  declamation,  and  he  found  his  mind  spontan- 
eously holding  his  heart  in  abeyance,  that  the 
former  might  sit  in  critical  judgment  upon 
the  performance,  admiring  or  condemning  it. 
"While  this  was  the  case  with  severer  minds,  the 
multitude  liung  upon  his  discourse  usually  with 
more  of  wonder  than  of  any  other  emotion.  We 
say  usually,  for  'there  were  occasions  in  which 
his  own  excited  emotions  bore  down  all  criti- 


232  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

cism,  and  swept  along  in  a  tumultuous  current 
the  feelings  of  high  and  low.  At  these  times,  in 
spite  of  his  hyberbolic  imagery  and  language, 
his  noble  voice  assumed  its  fullest  music,  and 
fell  into  a  slight  recitative,  which  seemed  no 
fault,  but  actually  enhanced  its  eifect.  Some  of 
the  ancient  writers  on  oratory  speak  of  this 
manner  as  an  excellence  not  uncommon  in  the 
classic  eloquence.  Cicero  alludes  to  it  favorably. 
It  may  be  founded  in  nature,  in  a  tendency  of 
the  sensibilities,  when  intensely  excited,  to  ex- 
press themselves  in  ecstatic  and  musical  tones, 
analogous  to  their  tendency,  under  such  excite- 
ment, to  poetic  measures  in  language.  We  find 
it  still  extant  among  the  Quakei*8,  and  other 
sects,  though  in  great  exaggeration. 

Dr.  Bascom's  intellect  presented  a  singular 
combination  of  excellences  and  defects.  The 
poet  and  the  dialectician  were  so  mixed  in  him 
as  not  to  allow  of  a  distinct  development  of 
either,  but  produced,  in  his  mental  operations, 
such  an  habitual  interplay  of  the  logical  and 
poetical  powers  as  often  to  confound  each  other. 
A  severe  critic  would,  we  think,  usually  retire 
from  his  preaching,  puzzled  to  discriminate  the 
intrinsic  thought  and  the  overlaying  imagery 
of  the  discourse,  and  yet  compelled  to  acknowl- 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  233 

edge  that  there  was  a  marvelous  exhibition  of 
both.  He  had  little  or  no  fancy,  but  an  august 
imagination.  Contrary  to  the  usual  habit  of 
imaginative  minds,  he  seemed  always  inclined 
to  discuss  subjects  which  admitted  of  elaborate 
argumentation ;  yet  in  conducting  liis  argument 
he  could  not  proceed  with  the  measured  pace 
of  the  logician,  but  must  move  with  the  flight 
of  an  archangel.  Should  the  hearer  divest  him- 
self entirely  of  the  propensities  of  the  critic, 
and  give  himself  up  to  the  poetry  of  the  dis- 
course, he  would  find  himself  more  satisfied 
than  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  should  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  the  process  of  thought  alone,  or  at- 
tempt to  comprehend  both. 

Tlie  poetic  element  was,  we  think,  his  chief 
distinction.  Tlie  strict  art  with  which  he 
studied  oratory  was  not,  however,  equally  ap- 
plied here;  his  imagination  was  often  excessive. 
It  lingered  not  among  Hervey's  "  Reflections  in 
a  Flower  Garden,"  but  aspiring  to  a  loftier  flight, 
plumed  itself  among  his  "Starry  Heavens." 
Many  of  these  flights  showed  a  Miltonian  gran- 
deur, but  they  were  oftener  exaggerated,  and 
were  habitually  too  frequent.  Some  of  his  dis- 
courses seemed  almost,  from  beginning  to  end, 
a  series  of  elaborated  figures,  "  chained  hght- 


234  ESSAYS    ON     THK     PREACHING 

ning,"  and  sometimes,  perhaps,  owed,  like  the 
latter,  much  of  their  apparent  splendor  to  the 
surrounding  obscurity.  Jupiter,  at  the  request 
of  Semele,  came  to  her  arrayed  in  the  thunders 
and  lightnings  of  the  god,  but  she  was  consumed 
at  his  approach ;  the  plain  good  sense  of  popu- 
lar assemblies  is  often  baftled  and  confounded 
by  displays  of  oratorical  poetry,  and  more  so  in 
the  sanctuary,  perhaj^s,  than  anywhere  else. 

Dr.  Bascom  was  self-educated — a  means  of 
peculiar  advantage  to  some  minds,  but  to  an 
exuberantly  fertile  one,  like  his,  the  occasion 
of  a  lax  disciphne  and  distorted  growth.  He 
emigrated  early  to  the  West ;  among  its  vast 
rivers,  prairies,  and  mountain  ranges,  he  studied 
the  revelations  of  nature,  and  his  mental  char- 
acter revealed  the  impression  which  those  grand 
scenes  made  upon  him.  Whatever  other  de- 
fects he  had,  he  showed  no  efleminacy,  no  dilu- 
tion of  thought.  His  ideas  were  robust,  his 
imagery  rugged  though  luxuriant — all  his  con- 
ceptions seemed  naturally  to  take  a  character 
of  magnitude,  if  not  magnificence,  like  that  of 
the  scenery  with  which  he  was  conversant. 
His  literary  studies,  pursued  alone,  and  in  his 
ministerial  travels,  could  not  compete  with  the 
influence  of  the  grand  associations  which   sur- 


EEQUIKED     BY    THE     TIMES.  235 

rounded  him.  The  LT,tter  formed  his  intellectual 
character ;  the  former,  though  pursued  assidu- 
ously, failed  of  their  usual  chastening  effect,  so 
far  at  least  as  his  pulpit  efforts  were  concerned ; 
and  to  the  last  year  of  his  life  his  preaching 
retained  its  original  characteristics,  though  its 
delivery  was  somewhat  moderated  by  the  use 
of  manuscripts  in  the  desk — an  expedient  very 
unwisely  recommended  by  his  medical  advisers 
as  a  relief  to  a  chronic  inflammation  of  the 
throat.* 

He  had  little  of  the  ease  and  self-possession 
which  we  have  recommended.  He  evidently 
entered  the  pulpit  bowed  under  the  burden  of 
his  task,  and  his  discourse  throughout  was  ap- 
parently an  extreme  effort.  It  was  not  unusual 
for  him  to  spend  most  of  Saturday  night  in 
walking  his  chamber  floor,  anxiously  conning 
the  next  day's  sermon.  Such  elaborate  attempts 
often  defeat  themselves,  and  Dr.  Bascom's  fail- 
ures were  not  unfrequent.  His  sermons  seemed 
Invariably  delivered  memoriter,  though  usually 
long  enough  to  occupy  two  hours  ;  if  he  did  not 
purposely  commit  them  to  memory,  yet  their 

*  We  believe  that  extemporizers  suftev  much  less  than 
sermon-readei-s  from  this  ailment;  and  there  are  obvious 
reasons  why  this  should  be  the  case. 


236  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

frequent  repetition  fixed  in  his  mind  their  lan- 
guage as  well  as  their  train  of  thought.  Tliey 
were  evidently  prepared  with  the  utmost  labor. 
Tlie  paragraphs  seemed  often  to  be  separate  but 
resplendent  masses  of  thought,  written  at  inter- 
vals, and  without  very  close  relations.  This  de- 
fect added  to  the  obscurity  of  the  discourse  as  a 
whole,  breaking  uj)  its  continuity  in  the  mind 
of  the  hearer.  The  elaborateness  of  his  mental 
processes  extended  even  to  his  language  ;  it  had 
something  of  the  Latin  pomp  of  Johnson,  with 
the  hizarre  complexity  of  Carlyle,  and  often,  as 
a  consequence,  presented  sentences  of  striking 
peculiarity  and  force,  notwithstanding  its  gene- 
ral defectiveness.  He  frequently  coined  words, 
or  gave  them  new  applications  ;  the  latter,  how- 
ever, were  usually  traceable  to  some  subtile,  ety- 
mological reason,  and  sometimes  were  marked 
by  beauty  and  pertinence.  His  published  ser- 
mons will  not  endure;  they  have  not  come 
under  the  attention  of  the  higher  class  of  crit- 
ics, and  would  not,  we  think,  be  passable  at 
their  bar.  Some  of  his  other  productions,  in 
which  his  poetical  propensities  had  no  room  to 
play,  show  that  if  his  education  had  been  such 
as  to  effectually  discipline  his  imagination,  his 
real  ability  would  have  been  greatly  enlianced. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE   TIMES.  237 

His  most  important  writings,  besides  those  pre- 
pared for  tlie  pulpit,  are  his  "  Bill  of  Rights," 
written  on  behalf  of  the  "reform"  movement 
of  1828  ;  the  "Protest  of  the  Minority,"  in  the 
memorable  General  Conference  of  1844;  the 
"  Report  on  Organization,"  at  the  formation  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Chnrch,  South ;  and  a 
subsequent  elaborate  volume  in  defence  of  the 
Southern  Church,  entitled  "  Methodism  and 
Slavery." 

In  social  life  Dr.  Bascom  was  not  readily  ap- 
preciated, except  by  his  familiar  friends.  To 
others  he  was  taciturn  or  abrupt,  and  apparently 
frigid.  There  was  about  him  that  uneasiness 
which  so  often  accompanies  men  of  rare  powers 
and  marked  individuality — the  morbid  effect, 
usually,  of  the  honorable  but  not  often  honored 
wounds  of  hard-fought  inward  conflicts.  He 
suffered  no  little  misconstruction  in  this  respect, 
in  addition  to  the  suffering  which  the  conscious 
defect  itself  inflicted.  When  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy,  by  the  special  permission  of  Napoleon, 
visited  Paris,  at  a  time  when  the  country  was 
closed  to  Englishmen,  he  was  conducted  by  the 
French  savans  with  great  courtesy  and  eclat  to 
the  principal  scientiflc  resorts  of  the  city ;  but 
no  sooner  had  he  left  it  than  a  torrent  of  abuse 


238  ESSAYS     ON     TilE    PREACHING 

overtook  him  for  his  "English  hauteur" — the 
stolid  pride  with  which  he  appeared  to  receive 
the  attentions  of  the  learned  Parisians.  His 
biographer  explains  the  case.  It  was  not  pride, 
but  its  direct  opposite  that  affected  the  great 
English  philosoplier.  His  constitutional  diffi- 
dence— ^not  an  uncommon  trait  of  the  highest 
and  purest  style  of  mind — embarrassed  him  so 
much  that  he  knew  not  how  to  receive  the  polite 
attentions  showered  upon  him ;  and  while  he 
was  publicly  condemned  for  his  pride,  he  was 
secretly  agonized  by  his  self-depreciation.  Dr. 
Bascom  was  an  examj^le  of  the  same  weakness, 
or  virtue,  as  some  would  call  it.  To  those  who 
enjoyed  his  intimate  acquaintance  he  revealed  a 
nature  full  of  generous  frankness  and  cordiality. 
"  To  such,"  says  one  of  his  Southern  brethren, 
"  he  was  as  simple  as  a  child,  open  to  suggestion 
and  counsel,  amiable  and  lovely  as  a  friend."* 
"A  warmer  heart,  and  more  noble  feelings," 
says  Bishop  Andrew,  "  beat  not  in  the  bosom  of 
mortal ;  there  was  a  spring  of  kindest  affection 
there  which  never  ran  dry." 

He  died  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  sun'ounded 
by  old  and  endeared  friends,  on  the  8tli  of  Sep- 

*Dr.  Wightman,  Southern  Cliristian  Advocate. 


EEQTFIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  239 

tember,  1850.  When  asked  if  his  spirit  was 
sustained  in  the  final  conflict  by  the  grace  which 
he  had  preached  to  others,  his  rejjlj  was,  "  Yes, 
yes,  yes !" 

JSTotwithstanding  any  critical  detractions  from 
the  popular  estimate  of  his  intellectual  charac- 
ter, those  who  have  heard  him  in  his  successful 
eiforts  will  remember  the  occasion  as  a  privi- 
lege, an  exhibition  of  magnificent  mind — mag- 
nificent, though,  like  the  grandeur  of  the  moun- 
tain, made  up  of  broken  outlines,  rough  clifib, 
dark  ravines  below  and  sunlit  eff'ulgence  above. 

We  pass  to  another  name  which  has  become 
a  synonyme  among  us  for  almost  every  trait  of 
mental  symmetry  and  moral  beauty — Wilbur 
FisK.  He  also,  like  Cookman,  came  of  a  primi- 
tive Methodist  stock,  and  a  strong  ingredient 
of  New-England  Puritanism  did  not  mar  the 
composition  of  his  noble  nature.  He  began  his 
ministry  in  1818,  when  about  twenty-six  years 
of  age.  His  pastoral  labors  extended  through 
eight  years;  the  remainder  of  his  life,  including 
some  fourteen  years,  was  spent  in  literary  insti- 
tutions of  the  Church.  He  may  be  pronounced 
the  founder  of  the  educational  provisions  of 
New-England  Methodism — provisions  which  we 


240  ESSAYS    ON     THE     PREACHING 

believe  are  now  more  complete  than  in  any- 
other  section  of  the  Chm-ch,  comprising  a  well- 
related  series  of  one  or  more  independent  acad- 
emies for  each  conference,  and  a  university  and 
theological  school  for  them  jointly.  Dr.  Fisk 
saw  the  absolute  necessity  of  such  institutions 
for  Methodism,  especially  in  the  Eastern  States, 
where  the  whole  people  were  educated,  and 
where  education  could  not  well  be  divested  of 
sectarian  influences,  except  in  its  most  ele- 
mentary forms.  His  successful  plans  have  res- 
cued the  youth  of  the  Church  from  the  prose- 
lytism  of  other  sects.  They  have  already  made 
a  visible,  an  almost  universal  impression  on  the 
character  of  New-England  Methodism,  espe- 
cially of  its  ministers,  a  very  large  proportion 
of  whom  have  spent  more  or  less  time  in  pre- 
paratory studies  in  its  seminaries. 

Wilbur  Fisk's  person  bespoke  his  character. 
It  was  of  good  size  and  remarkable  for  its  sym- 
metry. His  features  were  beautifully  harmo- 
nious, the  contour  strongly  resembling  the  better 
Ivouum  outline,  though  lacking  its  most  peculiar 
distinction,  the  iiasus  aquilunis.  Ilis  eye  was 
nicely  dclincd,  and  when  excited  beamed  with 
a  peculiarly  benign  and  conciliatory  expression. 
His  complexion  was  bilious,  and  added  to  the 


KEQUIKED     BY     THE     TIMES.  241 

diseased  indication  of  his  somewhat  attenuated 
features.  His  head  was  a  model  not  of  great 
but  of  well-proportioned  development.  It  had 
the  height  of  the  Roman  brow,  though  none  of 
the  breadth  of  the  Greek.  The  two  portraits 
of  him  which  have  been  given  to  the  public 
recall  his  appearance  well  enough  to  those  who 
were  familiar  with  it,  but  can  hardly  aflbrd  an 
accurate  impression  to  such  as  never  saw  him. 
The  first  of  tliem,  presenting  him  in  the  primi- 
tive ministerial  costume  of  the  Church,  (which 
he  doffed,  we  believe,  in  later  years,)  has  too 
much  of  the  languor  of  disease:  there  is  an 
aspect  of  debility,  if  not  decay,  about  it,  which 
did  not  belong  to  the  original,  notwithstanding 
his  habitual  ill-health.  It  is  preferred,  however, 
by  many  of  his  friends,  to  the  second  engraving 
—an  English  production,  marked  by  ideal  and 
somewhat  pompous  exaggerations,  and  not  a 
little  of  that  exquisite  and  unnatural  nicety  with 
which  our  English  brethi'-en  are  flattered  in 
their  published  portraits.  Tliere  is  a  bust  of 
him  extant ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  looked  at  by  any 
who  would  not  mar  in  their  memories  the  beau- 
tiful and  benign  image  of  his  earlier  manhood 
by  the  disfigurations  of  disease  and  suffering. 
His  voice  was  peculiarly  flexible  and  sonorous: 
16 


242  ESSAYS     ON    THE     PREACHING 

a  catarrhal  disease  affected  it ;  but  just  enough, 
during  most  of  his  life,  to  give  it  a  soft  orotund, 
without  a  trace  of  the  nasal  tone,  which  is  so 
common  in  the  Eastern  states.  It  rendered  him 
a  charming  singer,  and  was  an  instrument  of 
music  to  him  in  the  pulpit.  Without  ajDpearing 
to  use  it  designedly  for  vocal  effect,  it  was 
nevertheless  an  important  means  of  impression 
to  his  sermons.  Few  men  could  indicate  the 
moral  emotions  more  effectually  by  mere  tones. 
It  was  especially  erpressive  in  patlietic  pas- 
sages. 

His  pulpit  manner  was  marked,  in  the  intro- 
d action  of  the  sermon,  by  dignity,  but  dignity 
without  ceremony  or  pretension.  As  he  ad- 
vanced into  the  exposition  and  argument  of  his 
discourse,  (and  there  were  both  in  most  of  his 
sermons,)  he  became  more  emphatic,  especially 
as  brilliant  though  brief  illustrations,  ever  and 
anon,  gleamed  upon  his  logic.  By  the  time  he 
had  reached  the  peroration  his  utterance  be- 
came rapid,  his  thoughts  were  incandescent, 
the  music  of  his  voice  rung  out  in  thrilling 
tones,  and  sometimes  even  quivered  with  trills 
of  pathos.  No  imaginative  excitement  pre- 
vailed in  the  audience  as  under  Mafhtt's  elo- 
quence; no  tumultuous  wonder,  as  under  Bas- 


EEQUIEED    BY     THE    TIMES.  243 

corn's;  none  of  Cookman's  impetuous  passion, 
or  Olin's  overwhelming  power,  but  a  subduing, 
abnost  tranquil  spell,  of  genial  feeling,  ex- 
pressed often  by  tears  or  lialf-suppressed  ejacu- 
lations;— something  of  the  kindly  effect  of 
Summerfield  combined  with  a  higher  intel- 
lectual impression. 

We  cannot  claim  for  Dr.  Fisk  genius,  nor  the 
very  highest  order  of  mind.  Good  vigor  in  all 
his  faculties,  and  good  balance  of  them  all, 
were  his  chief  intellectual  characteristics.  His 
literary  acquisitions  were  not  great.  Tlie 
American  collegiate  course  in  his  day  was 
stinted ;  after  his  graduation  he  was  too  busy 
to  study  much,  and  he  was  not  a  great  reader. 
His  resources  were  chiefly  in  himself — in  his 
good  sense,  his  quick  sagacity,  his  generous 
sensibilities,  and  his  healthy  and  fertile  imagi- 
nation. He  possessed  the  latter  power  richly, 
though  it  never  ran  riot  in  his  discourses.  It 
was  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  his  logic — an  exem- 
plification of  Dugald  Stewart's  remark  on  the 
intimate  relation  between  the  imagination  and 
the  reasoning  faculty  in  a  well-balanced  mind. 
Its  scintillations  were  the  sparkles  that  flew 
about  the  anvil  on  which  his  logic  plied  its 
strokes. 


244  ESSAYS     ON    THE     PEEACIIING 

His  sermons,  if  examined  in  print,  would 
pass  for  good,  but  "  second-rate  "  productions  ; 
that  is  to  say,  they  would  rank  below  those  of 
Chalmers,  Channing,  Robert  Hall,  or  Olin ;  but 
if  heard  from  his  own  lips  in  the  pulpit,  the 
hearer — even  the  educated  and  critical  hearer — 
inspired  with  the  preacher's  manner  and  sensi- 
bility, would  be  disposed  to  assign  them  to  the 
"  first-rate  "  class.  His  style,  not  being  formed 
from  books,  was  the  natural  expression  of  his 
vigorous  and  nicely-balanced  mind;  it  was 
therefore  remarkable  for  its  simplicity  and  terse- 
ness, its  Saxon  purity  and  energy.  There  can- 
not be  found  a  meretricious  sentence  in  all  his 
published  writings. 

He  was  not  a  metaphysician  nor  a  dialecti- 
cian, and  yet  by  natural  disposition  he  was  a 
polemic.  Tliis  was  a  marked  propensity  of  his 
mind ;  it  was  never  abused  into  gladiatorship  in 
the  pulpit,  but  inclined  him  almost  incessantly 
to  theological  discussion  out  of  it.  A  jealous 
regard  for  the  truth  doubtless  prompted  this 
disposition ;  but  we  think  it  had  a  deejier  foun- 
dation— that  it  was  founded  in  his  mental  con- 
stitution. His  polemical  writings  were  not 
only  in  good  temper,  but  examples  of  luminous 
and   forcible   argumentation.     The  sermon    on 


EEQUIEED    BY    THE    TIMES.  245 

Calvinism  may  be  referred  to  as  a  specimen. 
That  discourse,  with  his  sermon  and  lectures  on 
Universalism,  his  essays  on  the  New-Haven  Di- 
vinity, his  discourse  on  the  Law  and  the  Gospel, 
his  tract  in  reply  to  Pierrepont  on  tlie  Atone- 
ment, &c.,  would  form  a  volume  which  the 
Church  might  recognize  as  no  ignoble  memorial 
of  both  his  intellectual  and  moral  character. 
His  travels  in  Europe,  tliough  containing  some 
examples  of  elaborate  reflection  and  picturesque 
description,  was  not  a  volume  of  superior  claims 
— it  had  too  much  of  the  ordinary  guide-book 
character. 

That  very  significant  and  convenient  word, 
tact^  expresses  a  quality  which  "Wilbur  Fisk 
possessed  in  a  rare  degree.  He  was  uncom- 
monly sagacious  in  perceiving,  and  prompt  in 
seizing  the  practical  advantages  of  his  position, 
whatever  it  might  be ;  hence  his  adroitness  in 
controversy,  the  success  of  his  platform  addresses, 
his  almost  certain  triumphs  in  conference  de- 
bates, and  the  skill  of  his  public  practical 
schemes^ — excepting  always  those  which  T^ere 
financial^  in  which  respect,  we  think,  he  sig- 
nally failed — a  defect  quite  usual  with  men  of 
genius,  but  not  with  men  of  his  mental  charac- 
teristics. 


246  ESSAYS    ON    THE    rKEACIIING 

His  moral  cliaracter  was  perfect  as  that  of 
any  man  whom  it  has  been  our  happiness  to 
know.  His  intimate  friends  will  admit  that 
there  is  hardly  a  possibility  of  speaking  too 
favorably  of  him  in  this  respect.  After  some 
years  spent  in  personal  relations  with  him,  we 
are  literally  at  a  loss  to  mention  one  defect  that 
marred  the  moral  beanty  of  his  nature.  We 
are  aware  that  this  is  saying  very  much  ;  that  it 
is  saying  what  cannot  be  said  of  one  man  per- 
haps in  a  million,  but  we  deliberately  say  it  of 
this  saintly  man.  Serene,  cheerful,  exempt 
from  selfishness,  pride,  and  vanity,  tender  yet 
manly  in  his  sensibilities,  confiding  in  his  friend- 
ships, entertaining  hopeful  views  of  Divine 
Providence  and  the  destiny  of  man,  maintaining 
the  purest  and  yet  the  most  unelaborate  piety — 
a  piety  that  appeared  to  believe  and  enjoy  and 
do  all  things  good,  and  yet  to  "  be  careful  for 
nothing" — ^he  seemed  to  combine  the  distinctive 
charms  that  endear  to  us  the  beautiful  charac- 
ters of  Fenelon  and  Channing,  Edwards  and 
Fletcher  of  Madeley.  His  humility  was  pro- 
found, and  surrounded  him  with  an  aureole  of 
moral  loveliness.  It  was  not  a  burden  of 
penance  under  which  the  soul  bowed  with  self- 
cherished  agony ;  still  less  was  it  a  "  voluntary 


EEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  247 

humility"— an  assumed,  an  affected  self-abase- 
ment; but  it  seemed  the  spontaneous,  kindly 
and  tender  demeanor  of  his  soul :  it  mingled  with 
the  cheerful  play  of  his  features,  and  gave  a 
sweet  suavity  to  his  very  tones.  It  was  his  rare 
moral  character,  more  than  his  intellectual 
eminence,  that  gave  him  such  magic  influence 
over  other  minds,  and  rendered  him  so  success- 
ful in  the  government  of  literary  institutions. 
All  about  him  felt  a  sort  of  self-respect  in  re- 
specting him ;  to  offend  him  was  a  self-infliction 
which  even  the  audacity  of  reckless  youth  could 
not  brook. 

Fisk  lived  for  many  years  in  the  faith  and 
exemplification  of  St.  Paul's  subhme .  doctrine 
of  Christian  perfection.  He  prized  that  great 
tenet  as  one  of  the  most  important  distinctions 
of  Christianity.  His  own  experience  respecting 
it  was  marked  by  impressive  circumstances, 
and  from  the  day  that  he  practically  adopted  it 
till  he  twumphed  over  death,  its  impress  was 
radiant  on  his  daily  life.  With  John  Wesley 
he  deemed  this  important  truth — ^promulgated, 
in  any  very  express  form,  almost  solely  by 
Methodism  in  these  days — to  be  one  of  the  most 
solemn  responsibilities  of  his  Church,  the  most 
potent  element  in  the  experimental  divinity  of 


248  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

the  Scriptures.""  In  liis  earlier  religious  history 
he  had  felt  the  iufluence  of  those  temptations 
which  have  betrayed  so  many  young  men  from 
our  ministry  into  other  communions,  where  bet- 
ter worldly  auspices  rather  than  better  means  of 
self-development  or  usefulness  were  to  be  found ; 
but  when  he  received  the  baptism  of  tliis  great 
grace,  his  purified  heart  could  not  sufiiciently 
utter  its  thankfuhiess  that  he  liad  been  provi- 
dentially kept  within  the  pale  of  a  Church  which 
clearly  taught  the  preeminent  doctrine.  This 
alone  was  a  denominational  distinction  sufii- 
ciently important  and  sublime  to  be  set  ofi" against 

*  Isaac  Taylor,  in  his  late  work  on  Methodism,  ro[)el8 
this  doctrine  as  refuted  by  every  man's  consciousness. 
Knox,  in  a  letter  to  Bishop  Webb,  says,  "  Their  view  of 
Christian  perfection  is,  in  my  mind,  so  essentially  right 
and  important,  that  it  is  on  this  account  i)articular]y  I 
value  them  above  other  denomination  of  that  sort.  I  am 
aware  that  ignorant  individuals  expose  what  is  in  iteelf 
true,  by  their  unfounded  pretensions  and  irrational  descrip- 
tions ;  but  with  the  sincerest  disapproval  of  every  such 
excess,  I  do  esteem  John  Wesley's  stand  for  lic^incss  to  be 
that  which  does  innnortal  honor  to  his  name.  *  *  *  In  John 
Wesley's  views  of  Christian  perfection  arc  combined,  in 
substance,  all  the  sublime  morality  of  the  Greek  fathers, 
the  spirituality  of  the  mystics,  and  the  divine  j)hiIosophy 
of  our  favorite  Platonists.  Macarius,  Fenelon,  Lucas,  and 
all  of  their  respective  classes,  have  been  consulted  and 
digested  by  him,  and  his  ideas  are  essentially  theirs. — 
Thirty  Years'  Corresporidencc .     Letter  XIX. 


REQUIKED    BY     THE    TIMES.  249 

any  drawback  that  Metliodism  might  present. 
In  a  letter  to  a  brother  clergyman,  he  expressed, 
with  overflowing  feelings,  his  renewed  love  of 
the  Chm-ch.  "  I  thank  God,"  he  said,  "  that  I 
ever  saw  this  day.  I  love  onr  Church  better 
than  ever.  How  glad  am  I  that  I  never  left  it." 
There  are  two  periods  at  which  a  Methodist 
assuredly  feels  no  regret  for  his  connection  with 
the  denomination — when  he  learns  by  expe- 
rience what  is  the  meaning  of  its  instructions 
respecting  Christian  perfection,  and  when  death 
dismisses  him  from  its  communion  to  the  Church 
triumphant. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1839,  in  the  forty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  Wilbur  Fisk  received 
that  dismission.  His  chamber  had  been  for  days 
sanctified  as  it  were  by  the  glory  of  the  Divine 
Presence,  and  his  broken  utterances  were  full 
of  consolation,  and  triumph  over  death.  "Glo- 
rious hope!"  was  the  last  and  whispered  expres- 
sion of  his  religious  feelings. 

Stephen  Olin  stands  forth  with  commanding 
prominence  and  an  imperial  mien  among  the 
princes  of  our  Israel.  He  was  a  shining  light, 
a  full  orb — if  not  the  most  notable,  yet  the  most 
intrinsically  great  man,  take  him  "all  in  all," 


250  ESSAYS    ON    TIIK    PREACHING 

that  American  Methodism  has  produced.  So 
manifest  and  commanding  were  his  traits,  that 
this  preeminence  can  be  awarded  him  without 
the  shghtest  invidiousness. 

His  character' — moral,  social  and  intellectual 
— was,  throughout,  of  the  noblest  style.  In  the 
first  respect  he  was  preeminent  for  the  two 
chief  virtues  of  true  religion — charity  and  hu- 
mility. With  thorough  theological  orthodoxy 
he  combined  a  practical  liberalism  which  we 
fear  most  orthodox  polemics  would  pronounce 
dangerous.  There  was  not  an  atom  of  bigotry 
in  all  the  vast  soul  of  this  rare  man.  Meanwhile, 
it  could  be  said  of  him  as  Rowland  Hill  said  of 
Chalmei's,  "Tlie  most  astonishing  thing  about 
him  was  his  humility."  He  was  the  best  exam- 
ple we  have  known  of  that  childlike  simplicity 
which  Christ  taught  as  essential  to  those  who 
would  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  which 
Bacon  declared  to  be  equally  necessary  to  "  those 
who  would  enter  the  kingdom  of  knowledge." 
Like  Fisk,  he  was  a  personal  example  of  St. 
Paul's  doctrine  of  "Christian  perfection"  as 
expomided  by  Wesley.  Respecting  the  Method- 
istic  hypothesis  of  that  doctrine  he  at  first  enter- 
tained doubts;  but  as  he  advanced  in  life,  and 
especially  under   the   chastening   influence   of 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  251 

affliction,  it  became  developed  in  his  own  experi- 
ence. "I  sunk  into  it,"  he  remarked  to  the 
writer,  in  substance.  "My  children,  my  wife,  my 
health,  my  entire  prospect  on  earth,  all  were  gone 
— God  only  remained ;  I  lost  myself  as  it  were  in 
him,  I  was  hid  in  him  with  Christ — and  found, 
without  any  process  of  logic,  but  by  an  experi- 
mental demonstration,  the  'perfect  love  that 
casteth  out  fear.'"  He  was  never  obtrusive  in 
the  avowal  of  this  great  truth,  but  ever  ready 
to  give,  with  all  lowliness  and  meekness,  a 
reason  of  the  hope  that  was  within  him.  Tlie 
marvelous  grace  that  imbued,  and,  we  were 
about  to  say,  glorified,  his  very  greatness  with 
unsurpassed  humility,  was  owing,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  his  faith  in  this  sublime  idea  of 
Christianity. 

He  had  defects,  unquestionably;  but  so  far 
as  they  took  a  moral  tendency,  no  effort  of 
charity  was  requisite  in  order  to  attribute  them 
to  his  continual  physical  infirmities.  Some  of 
our  most  interesting  and  precious  personal  recol- 
lections of  him  are  connected  with  instances  of 
such  apparent  defects.  The  virtues  which  accom- 
panied them  seemed  rather  to  gain  than  lose  by 
the  contrast,  as  precious  gems  are  beautified  by 
their  inferior  settings. 


252  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

His  social  character  was  beautiful.  If  he 
could  not  indulge  the  persiflage — the  sheer 
inanities  which  inferior  minds  may  deem  the 
appropriate  relaxation  of  social  conversation — 
yet  was  he  ever  ready,  for  not  merely  the  cheer- 
ful remark,  but  the  exhilarating  pleasantry  :  his 
familiar  friends  will  never  forget  this  charming 
trait.  Nor  were  these  buoyant  intervals  rare  or 
brief.  Frequently  through  a  prolonged  but 
always  fitting  conversation,  would  this  play  of 
sunshine  illuminate  his  presence,  and  with  it 
would  intermix,  congruously,  often  most  felicit- 
ously, a  radiant  play  of  thought  or  a  happy 
expression  of  Christian  sensibility — never,  how- 
ever, the  meaningless  twaddle  of  weakness.  A 
truer  and  more  forbearing  friend  could  not  be' 
found.  His  domestic  affections  were  warm,  and 
the  circle  of  his  family  was  a  sanctuary  full  of 
hallowed  sympathies  and  enjoyments. 

It  would  require  a  more  capable  hand  than 
ours  to  estimate  his  intellectual  dimensions. 
His  scholai-ship  was,  we  think,  more  exact  and 
thorough  within  his  professional  sphere,  than 
varied  or  comprehensive  beyond  that  limit. 
We  speak  of  scholarship  as  distinguished  from 
general  information.  At  his  graduation  he  was 
considered  the  "ripest  scholar"  who  had  been 


EEQUIKED    BY    THE    TIMES.  253 

examined  in  his  college.  He  was  conservative 
in  his  views  of  classical  education,  and  very 
decidedly  opposed  to  the  "  modernized"  system 
of  training  attempted  and  abandoned  at  Har- 
vard, and  now  experimenting  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity. A  high  and  finished  classical  disci-. 
pline  was  his  ideal  for  the  college  over  which 
he  presided;  and  that  institution  has  sent  out, 
under  his  superintendence,  as  thorough  students 
as  have  lionored  the  education  of  the  land. 

While  he  was  a  genuine  scholar  within  his 
ai3pro23riate  sphere,  he  possessed  also  a  large 
range  of  general  intelligence,  though,  as  we 
have  said,  without  that  devotion  to  any  favorite 
department  of  extra-professional  knowledge, 
which  often  relieves  and  adorns  the  professional 
life  of  studious  men  by  becoming  a  healthful 
and  liberalizing  counterpart  to  tlieir  stated  rou- 
tines of  thought.  We  are  not  aware  that  he 
was  addicted  to  the  national  literature  of  any 
one  modern  people ;  to  the  speculative  philoso- 
phies which,  with  so  much  fallacy,  have  also 
developed  so  much  mental  vigor  and  splendor 
in  the  continental  intellect  of  Europe  ;  or  to  any 
one  department  of  the  elegant  literature  of  our 
own  language.  We  know  not  that  he  had 
more  than  a  casual  acquaintance  with  these, 


254  ESSAYS    ON     THE     PKEACIIING 

derived  mostly  from  Reviews.  With  the  cur- 
rent history  of  the  workl  in  politics,  science, 
and  especially  religion,  lie  had,  however,  more 
than  the  usual  familiarity;  a  remarkable  mem- 
ory, tenacious  of  even  statistics  and  names, 
doubtless  gave  him,  in  this  respect,  an  ad- 
vantage over  most  intellectual  men. 

The  original  powers  of  his  mind  were,  how- 
ever, his  great  distinction.  And  these,  like  his 
person,  were  all  colossal — grasp,  strength,  with 
the  dignity  which  usually  attends  it,  a  compre- 
hensive, faculty  of  generalization,  which  felt  in- 
dependent of  details,  but  presented  in  over- 
whelming logic  grand  summaries  of  thonglit. 
Tliis  comprehensiveness,  combined  with  energy 
of  thought,  was  the  chief  mental  characteristic 
of  the  man ;  under  the  inspiration  of  the  pulpit 
it  often  and  indeed  usually  became  sublime — we 
were  about  to  say  godlike.  "We  doubt  whether 
any  man  of  our  generation  has  had  more  power 
in  tlie  ])ulpit  than  Stephen  Olin  ;  and  tliis  p(twfr 
was  in  spite  of  very  marked  oratorical  defects. 
His  manner  was  ungainly ;  his  gestures  quite 
against  the  elocutionary  rules ;  his  voice  badly 
managed,  and  sometimes  painfnl  in  its  lieaving 
utterances;  but  the  elocutionist  is  not  always 
the  orator.     AVhile  you  saw  tliat  tlicrc  was  no 


REQUIRED    BY    TUE    TIMES,  255 

trickery  of  art  about  Dr.  Olin,  you  felt  that  a 
mighty,  a  resistless  mind  was  struggling  with 
yours.  You  were  overwhelmed — your  reason 
with  argument,  your  heart  with  emotion. 

When  he  began  his  discourse,  your  attention 
was  immediately  arrested  by  the  dignity  and 
sterling  sense  of  his  remarks.  You  perceived 
at  once  that  something  well  worth  your  most 
careful  attention  was  coming.  Paragrapli  after 
paragraph  of  massive  thought  was  thrown  off, 
each  showing  a  gradually  increasing  glow  of 
the  sensibility  as  well  as  the  mental  force  of  the 
speaker.  By  the  time  he  had  fairly  entered 
into  the  argument  of  the  sermon,  you  were  led 
captive  by  his  power ;  but  it  would  be  difficult 
to  say  which  most  effectually  subdued  you — liis 
mighty  thoughts  or  his  deep  feeling.  You  sel- 
dom or  never  saw  tears  in  his  own  eyes,  but 
they  flowed  freely  down  the  cheeks  of  his  hear- 
ers. Ever  and  anon  passages  of  overwhelming 
force  were  uttered,  before  which  the  whole  as- 
sembly seemed  to  bow,  not  so  much  in  admira- 
tion of  the  man,  as  in  homage  to  the  mighty, 
truth.  Such  passages  were  usually  not  poetic, 
for  he  was  remarkably  chary  of  his  imagery ; 
but  they  were  ponderous  with  thought — they 
were  often  stupendous  conceptions,  such  as  you 


256  ESSAYS    ON    THE    PREACHING 

•would  imagine  a  sanhedrim  of  archangels 
might  listen  to,  uncovered  of  their  golden 
crowns. 

At  suitable  periods  of  the  sermon,  which 
usually  occupied  from  an  hour  and  a  half  to 
two  hours,  he  would  pause  briefly  to  relieve  his 
voice  and  his  feelings.  The  mental  tension  of 
his  audience  could  be  perceived,  at  such  times, 
by  the  general  relaxation  of  posture,  and  the 
simultaneous,  heaving  respiration ;  but  as  soon 
as,  with  a  peculiar,  measured  dignity,  he  re- 
sumed the  lofty  theme,  all  eyes  were  again 
fixed,  all  minds  again  absorbed. 

Eftective  as  was  his  preaching  usually,  it  was 
not  always  so.  His  ill-health  sometimes  spread 
a  languor  over  his  si)irit  which  no  resolution 
could  throw  off.  We  recall  an  instance,  which 
affords  to  our  clerical  readei"s  too  good  a  lesson 
to  be  omitted  here.  We  spent  a  Sunday  even- 
ing with  liim  after  lie  had  failed,  as  he  thought, 
in  a  sermon  during  tlie  day.  He  referred  to  it 
with  much  good  nature,  and  remarked  that  his 
history  as  a  preacher  liad  taught  liini  to  expect 
the  blessins:  of  God  on  even  such  efforts.  He 
proceeded  to  relate  an  instance  which  occurred 
during  his  ministry  in  South  Carolina.  He 
preached  at  a  camp-meeting  Avliero  a  Presby- 


REQUIRED     BY     THE     TIMES.  257 

terian  clergyman,  who  was  to  address  the  next 
session  of  his  synod  in  Charleston,  heard  him. 
The  Presbyterian  doctor  repeated  not  only  the 
text,  but,  substantially,  the  sermon  before  his 
clerical  brethren,  giving,  however,  full  credit  to 
its  Methodist  author.  So  remarkable  a  fact 
could  not  fail  to  excite  great  interest  among  the 
people  of  Charleston  to  hear  the  latter. 

He  at  this  time  occupied  the  Methodist  pulpit 
of  that  city,  and  the  next  Sunday  evening  his 
chapel  was  crowded  with  the  elite  of  the  com- 
munity, including  several  clergymen.  He 
preached  long,  and  as  he  thought,  loudly  and 
confusedly ;  in  line,  he  felt,  at  the  close  of  the 
discourse,  confounded  with  mortiticatioii.  He 
sank,  after  the  benediction,  into  the  pulpit,  to 
conceal  himself  from  view,  till  the  assembly 
should  be  all  gone.  By-and-by  he  espied  some 
eminent  individuals  apparently  waiting  in  the 
aisle  to  salute  him.  His  heart  failed.  Noticing 
a  door  adjacent  to  the  pulpit  he  determined  to 
escape  by  it.  He  knew  not  whither  it  led,  but 
supposed  it  communicated  with  the  next  housGy- 
whicli  had  once  been  a  parsonage,  as  he  recol- 
lected having  lieaTd.  He  hastened  to  the  door, 
got  it  open,  and,  stepping  out,  descended  ab- 
iTiptly  into  a  grave-yard,  which  extended  be- 
17 


258        •    ESSAYS     ON     THE     PREACHING 

yond  and  behind  the  former  parsonage.  The 
night  was  very  dark,  and  he  stumbled  about 
among  the  tombs  for  some  time.  He  reached 
at  last  the  wall  Avhich  closed  the  cemetery  in 
from  the  street,  but  found  it  insurmountable. 
Groping  his  way  to  the  opposite  side,  he  sought 
to  reach  a  back  street  by  penetrating  through 
one  of  the  gardens  which  belonged  to  a  range 
of  houses  there.  It  was  an  awkward  endeavor 
in  the  darkness,  and  among  the  graves  ;  but  at 
last  he  found  a  wicket-gate.  He  had  no  sooner 
passed  through  it  than  he  was  assailed  by  a 
house-dog.  Having  prevailed  in  this  encounter, 
he  pushed  on  and  reached  the  street,  with  some 
very  reasonable  apprehensions  that  the  neigh- 
borhood would  be  alarmed  by  his  adventures. 
He  now  threaded  his  way  through  an  indirect 
route  to  his  lodgings,  passed  unceremoniously 
to  his  chamber,  and  shut  himself  up  for  the 
night,  but  slept  little  or  none,  reflecting  with 
deep  chagrin  on  tl^^  strange  conclusion  of  the 
day.  On  the  morrow  he  hardly  dared  -to 
venture  out ;  but  while  yet  in  his   study  Mr. 

,  one  of  the  first  citizens  in  Charleston,  and 

a  leading  officer  in  a  sister  denomination,  called 
at  the  house  ;  he  was  admitted  to  the  preacher's 
study  with  reluctance  ;  but  what  was  the  aston- 


REQUIRED    BY     THE     TIMES.  269 

ishment  of  the  latter  to  hear  him  say  that  the 
sermon  of  the  preceding  evening  had  enabled 
him  to  step  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  after 
many  years  of  disconsolate  endeavors,  during 
which  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  Church. 
The  same  day  a  lady  of  influential  family  came 
to  report  the  same  good  tidings.  Other  similar 
examples  occurred  that  morning ;  and  this 
failure  was  one  of  the  most  useful  sermons  of 
his  ministry. 

His  style  was  somewhat  diffuse  and  always 
elaborate, — too  much  so  for  elegance,  Johnson 
used  to  insist  that  his  own  pompous  Latinism 
was  an  effect  of  the  magnitude  of  his  thoughts ; 
its  fantastic  collocation,  even  in  the  definitions 
of  his  dictionary,  stand  out,  however,  inexora- 
bly and  grotesquely  against  the  fond  conceit; 
the  critics-  pronounce  his  verbiage  a  result  of 
his  early  study  of  Sir  Tliomas  Browne.  False, 
in  part,  as  was  the  great  author's  apology,  it 
was  also,  in  part,  true.  He  had  a  magnitude, 
and  Roman-like  sturdiness  of  thought,  which 
demanded  capacious  expression,  though  the  de- 
mand was  exaggerated,  and  thus  became  a 
characteristic  fault,  as  well  as  a  characteristic 
excellence.  Dr.  Olin's  style  was  affected  by  a 
similar  cause,  but  not  to  such  a  faulty  extent. 


/ 


260  ESSAYS    OK    THE    PKEACHING 

The  defect  was  perceptible  in  his  ordinary  con- 
versation, and  quite  so  in  his  extemporaneous 
sermons.  In  some  of  his  later  writings,  how- 
ever, like  Johnson  in  his  Lives  of  the  Poets,  he 
seemed  to  escape  the  excesses  while  he  retained 
the  excellencies  of  his  style. 

Dr.  Olin  was  gigantic  in  person.  His  chest 
would  have  befitted  a  Hercules ;  his  head  was 
one  of  those  which  suggest  to  us  superhuman 
capacity,  and  by  which  the  classic  sculptors 
symbolized  the  majesty  of  their  gods.  Tliough 
of  a  very  different  craniological  development, 
it  could  not  have  been  less  capacious  than  that 
of  Daniel  Webster ;  and,  crowning  a  nnich 
more  lofty  frame,  must  have  presented,  Mitli 
vigorous  health,  a  more  commanding  indica- 
tion. His  gigantic  structure  was,  however, 
during  most  of  his  life,  smitten  through  and 
through  with  disease  and  enervation.  Tlie 
colossal  head  seemed  too  heavy  to  be  sup- 
ported, and  appeared  to  labor  to  poise  itself. 
Tlie  eye,  somewhat  sunken  in  its  large  socket, 
presented  a  languid  expression,  though  relieved 
by  a  sort  of  religious  benignity  which  often 
beamed  with  feeling. 

This  great  man  must  be  added  to  the  long  and 
melancholy  catalogue  of  self-martyred  students. 


REQUIRED    BY    THE     TIMES.  261 

His  inHrmities  commenced  in  his  college  life  ; 
tliey  were  exasperated  by  his  labors  as  an  in- 
structor in  a  southern  climate  ;  and  were  the 
burden  of  his  later  years,  almost  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  any  continuous  labors.  During  these 
years  his  usefulness  was  confined  mostly  to  pc- 
casional  discourses,  some  of  which  have  been 
published;  to  the  quiet  but  inestimable  moral 
power  which  the  mere  official  presence  "of  such 
a  man  cannot  fail  to  exert  over  any  responsibil- 
ity to  which  he  is  related ;  and  last,  but  not 
least,  to  the  ministration  of  example  under  cir- 
cmnstances  of  suftering  and  personal  religious 
development. 

He  was  frankly  indejaendent  in  his  opinions, 
and  not  without  what  would  be  called  strong 
prejudices — no  uncommon  accompaniment  of 
powerful  minds.  He  was  decidedly  conserva- 
tive on  most  subjects,  though  early  inclined  to 
political  hberalism.  On  the  rife  question  of 
slavery  he  shared  not  the  strong  moral  senti- 
ment of  the  !Korth,  yet  he  lamented  the  institu- 
tion as  calamitous.  Tlie  Fugitive  Slave  Law  he 
deplored  as  a  necessary  evil,  and  was  favorable 
to  its  enforcement.  He  inclined  to  stringent 
institutions  of  government  in  both  Church  and 
State,  but  at  the  same  time  deemed  our  own 


262  ESSAYS    ON     THE    PREACHING 

CLiu'cli  polity  susceptible  of  many  liberal  im- 
provements, in  order  to  adapt  it  to  wliat  lie  con- 
sidered the  demands  of  the  times.  He  wished 
to  see  the  period  of  our  ministerial  appointments 
prolonged.  He  was  especially  interested  in  the 
intellectual  improvement  of  our  ministry,  and 
was  one  of  the  warmest  friends  of  tlieolocrical 
education  among  us ;  before  a  theological  school 
was  begun  in  the  Church  he  wrote  home  from 
London,  where  he  witnessed  the  experiment 
among  the  Wesleyans,  a  public  letter,  urging 
the  subject  upon  the  attention  of  the  Church, 
and  inclosing  a  considerable  donation  toward  it. 
He  believed  this,  indeed,  to  be  the  capital  want 
of  Methodism  in  our  day,  and  never  disguised 
the  conviction  amid  any  prejudice  to  the  con- 
trary. He  entertained  sublime  views  of  our 
missionary  resources,  and  longed  and  labored 
to  see  its  energies  amply  brought  out  and  ap- 
plied to  this  great  work,  especially  in  the  foreign 
field.  The  evangelization  of  the  world  he  deem- 
ed an  achievement  quite  practicable  at  this  day 
to  Protestant  Christendom.  Some  of  his  dis- 
courses on  the  subject  were  signal  eiforts  of  in- 
tellect and  eloquence. 

On  the  nightof  the  IStli  of  August,  1851,  it 
was  our  mournful  privilege  to  stand  in  a  small 


REQUIRED    BY    THE    TIMES.  263 

and  silent  circle  by  tlie  death-bed  of  this  good 
and  great  man.  The  herculean  frame  lay  help- 
less and  heaving  in  the  last  struggle.  "  I  hope 
in  Christ,"  (pointing  with  his  finger  upward ;) 
"  most  certainly,  in  Christ  alone.  I  believe  I 
shall  be  saved,  though  as  by  fire,"  were  among 
the  last  utterances  of  the  dying  sufterer.  Early 
the  next  morning  he  was  no  more  among  men. 

Five  of  the  most  notable  men  of  our  denomi- 
national pulpit  have  thus  passed  in  review  be- 
fore us — two  of  foreign,  three  of  native  birth. 
Others  might  be  selected  from  the  dead,  and 
there  are,  among  the  living,  those  who  will  take 
rank  with  such  as  we  have  recorded. 

We  have  endeavored  to  render  each  sketch 
suggestive  of  its  appropriate  lessons,  and  need 
not  prolong  our  article  by  very  minute  compara- 
tive remarks.  Olin  was  unquestionably  the 
greatest,  but  Fisk  the  most  perfect  man  in  the 
series.  Tlie  former  had  both  the  largest  and 
strongest  intellectual  grasp,  the  latter  more  ver- 
satility and  practical  skill.  Olin  had  the  high- 
est, the  philosophical  genius ;  and  if  his  health 
had  allowed  him  a  productive  hfe,  he  would 
have  taken  rank  where,  by  the  title  of  his  genius 
he  really  belonged' — among  the  first  men  of  his 


264  ESSAYS    ON    THE     PREACHING 

day:  Fisk  had  talent  and  tact  rather  tlian genius; 
he  was  the  practical  though  not  the  technical 
logician  in  both  speculation  and  in  life.  Olin 
had  very  little  of  the  detail  of  practical  logic, 
but  in  him  the  higher  logic,  the  faculty  of  gene- 
ralization, was  predominant ;  it  gave  grandeur 
to  his  habitual  conceptioiis,  though  it  could  not 
take  those  minute  cognizances  of  events  or  truths 
whicli  afforded  Fisk  an  habitual  mastery  over 
any  position  in  which  he  found  himself  placed, 
and  gave  more  perfect  proportions  to  the  de- 
velopment of  his  character.  Cookmau  had 
neither  the  philosophic  comprehensiveness  of 
the  one  nor  the  practical  skill  of  the  othei-,  l^nt 
more  mental  alertness  and  energy  than  either. 
Olin  could  have  best  planned  the  destinies  of  a 
state;  Fisk  could  have  planned  best  the  move- 
ments of  its  army ;  Cookman  could  have  best 
executed  those  movements.  Cookman  had  mudi 
of  Bascom's  imagination.  Ilis  nature  was  too 
hardy,  too  Saxon,  to  admit  of  any  resemblance 
to  Sumraerfield.  His  allegorical  skill  was  all 
his  own.  Summerfield's  position  in  the  group 
hardly  admits  of  comparison.  lie  had  none  of 
Olin's  intellectual  breadth,  little  of  Fisk's  tactical 
skill,  not  much  more  of  Cookman 's  energetic  vi- 
vacity, or  of  Bascom's  imagination.     Tlis  dis- 


REQUIKED    BY     THE     TIMES.  265 

tinction  was  almost  entirely  one  of  temperament, 
a  temperament  to  wliich  was  subordinated,  in 
the  happiest  manner  possible,  all  his  powers  of 
intellect  and  of  expression.  His  soul  was  not 
in  his  head,  but  in  his  heart,  if  we  may  so  speak. 
Never  was  the  power  of  a  public  speaker  more 
pure,  more  anomalous.  It  was  not  the  power  of 
logic  proceeding  from  the  intellect,  it  was  not 
poetic  power  proceeding  from  the  imagination, 
nor  did  it  flow  from  the  passions ;  it  was  a  moral 
magnetism,  a  gentle  suasive  effluence  from  the 
inmost  life  of  the  man.  His  biographer,  though 
he  claims  for  him  justly  a  second-rate  kind  of 
"  genius,"  declares  the  "  predominaftng"  quali- 
ties of  his  mind  to  have  been  "  good  sense  and 
good  tasted  Undoubtedly  this  was  the  case ;  but 
thes^qualities  do  not  solve  the  problem  of  his 
power.  Tliere  are  thousands  of  men  who  have 
"  good  sense  and  good  taste,"  but  who  have  no 
such  power.  It  proceeded,  we  repeat,  from  the 
peculiar  and  sanctified  temj)erament  of  the  man, 
his  "intense  animal  feeling,"  as  Montgomery 
somewhat  equivocally  calls  it,  and  his  "good 
sense  and  good  taste  "  were  but  its  regulators. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  marked  characters  and 
superior  intellects  which  have  arisen  within  the 
pale  of  Methodism,  and  thus  has  its  ministerial 


266    PREACHING    EEQUIKED   BY    THE   TIMES. 

system  been  found  suited  to  the  highest  pulpit 
talent,  and  at  the  same  time  capable  of  rallying 
and  directing  the  ruder  energies  of  thousands  of 
uncultivated  laborers ;  making  them  by  its  pecu- 
liar discipline  "workmen  that  need  not  to  be 
ashamed,"  and  covering  the  continent  with  the 
fruits  and  signs  of  their  apostleship. 


THE    END. 


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A  record  of  the  life  and  Christian  labours  of  Roger  Miller,  the  founder  of 
Ragged  Schools,  whose  career,  though  beginning  in  the  most  humble  way, 
affords  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  examples  of  Christian  devotion  and 
usefulness  which  the  history  of  the  modern  Church  records.  In  the  Lon- 
don City  Mission  he  found  a  field,  in  the  full  senge  of  the  word,  requirin"- 
missionary  zeal  and  self-denial  to  a  very  large  extent.  The  history  of  his 
personal  as  well  as  his  more  public  career  is  full  of  vni^x^'s.i.— Methodist 
Quarterly  Eeview. 


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B.  St.  J.  Fry.  Johk  Ejiort.  by  John  M'Clintock.  D.  I>.  Robert  E.  Rob 
EKTS.  by  J.  Floy.  D.  D.  Elijah  HEi>risG.  hy  the  Rev.  M.  L.  Scudder,  A.  M 
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eller.    Bv  James  H.\.jnLT0X,  D.  D. 

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A  series  of  eloquent  lectures  and  essays,  mostly  hortatory,  in  Dr.  Hamilton's 
best  vein,  on  subjects  connected  with  the  reading  and  propagation  of  the 
Bible. 

Sicitzirland. 

SwrrzEKLAN'D  :  Historical  axd  DESCBmrvE. 

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Part  I.  Bittorical:  The  Dim  Distance — Seeds  of  Nationality — Heroism  and 
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Lives  of  the  Popes. 

The  Ln-Es  or  the  Popes.  From  A.  D.  100  to  A.  D.  1S53.  From  the 
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ought  to  be  better  acquainted  than  ours  with  the  histon-  of  the  Popes,  and 
the  system  of  religion  of  which  they  are  acknowledged  beads ;  for  none  has 
more' to  fear  from  the  movements  of  Romanists. 

There  is  no  work  extant,  to  our  knowledge,  that  covers  the  same  ground.  It 
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Bevinc. 

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the  current  Uteratnre  of  the  age. — ChrittioH  Witnett. 


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Friends?iips  of  the  Bible. 

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The  subjects  of  this  attractive  volume  are,  David  and  Jonathan;  Abraham 
and  Eliezer;  Elisha  and  the  Shunammite;  Paul,  Joseph,  and  Enth; 
Fortuitous  Acts  of  Friendship ;  Rulers  ;  Bethany  ;  Jesus  and  John. 

Home  Truths. 

HosrE  Truths.  By  Kev.  J.  C.  Etle,  B.  A.,  Rector  of  Helmingham, 
England. 

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and  there  is  a  naturalne.<s,  an  aptness,  a  freshness  and  fulness  in  its 
thoughts  that  render  it,  altogether,  a  most  sterling  and  effective  volume. 
Its  fervid  earnestness,  though  without  pretentious  rhetoric,  becomes  an 
infectious  eloquence  that  sways  the  reader's  mind  and  heart  irresistibly, 
and  bears  him  along  from  page  to  page  as  by  a  sort  of  fascination.  Its 
subjects  are  not  only  illustrated,  and  often  in  the  happiest  manner,  but 
they  are  urged  and  enforced,  and  reiterated,  and  pressed  irresistibly  home, 
with  a  manner  so  simple,  so  full  of  persuasion  and  entreatv,  so  tenderly 
sincere  and  solicitous,  so  increa.singly  empihatic  as  you  pass  from  paragraph 
to  paragraph,  that  the  reader  can  hardly  fail  to  feel  the  moral  spell  of  the 
book. — Editor's  Preface. 

Ashury'^s  Journal. 

JouEXAL  OF  Kev.  Francis  Asbt.t.t,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.     3  vols. 

12mo.,  pp.  524,  492,  502.    Price $3  00 

Mr.  Asburv's  Jouraals  extend  from  the  meeting  of  the  Conference  held  in 
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Mr.  Wesley  as  a  missionary  to  America,  to  December  7,  1815,  within  a  few 
months  of  his  death,  a  period  of  forty-four  years. 

The  Journals  have  long  been  out  of  print.  The  edition  now  offered  is  far 
bett«r  than  the  old  one :  the  dates  have  been  carefully  collated  and  recti- 
fied, and  a  careful  index  to  the  three  volumes  is.  given  at  the  end.  In 
these  volumes  will  be  found  the  beginnings  (almost)  of  the  history  of  Meth- 
odism in  America;  and,  as  .such,  their  value  is  incalculable  to  the  Church. 
But  as  a  record  of  apostolic  zeal  and  Bdelity,  of  a  spirit  of  self-sacriflce 
rivalling  that  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  of  the  early  Church,  of  an  industry 
which  no  toils  could  weary,  of  a  patience  which  no  privations  could  e.xhaust, 
it  is  full  of  interest  to  every  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  to  every  Christian. 
— Methodist  Quarterly  Jieview. 

History  of  the  Inquisition. 

The  Braxd  of  Dosnxic  :  or,  Inquisition  at  Rome  "  Supreme  and  Uni- 
versal."    By  Riiv.  WrLLi-Oi  H.  Rule.    With  five  Engravings. 

12mo.,pp,  392.    Muslin $0  76 

This  small  volume  should  be  in  the  bands  of  every  one  who  takes  an  in- 
terest in  the  Papal  question. —  Church  of  England  Quarterly  Review. 

We  cannot  know  too  much  of  that  horrible  and  Satanic  institution,  of  which 
this  valuable  little  work  treats,  and  treats  so  a.h\y.— Evangelical  Cfiris- 
tendom. 


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Crane  on  the  Decalogue. 

The  Eight  Way:  or,  Practical  Lectures  on  the  Decalogue.  By  J.  , 
Crane,  A.  M. 

12ino.,  pp.  277.    Muslin $0  60 

True  religion  does  not  consist  in  emotions  and  feelings,  though  it  neccssavily 
produces  them.  It  consists  in  knowing  the  ■will  of  God,  and  doing  it  fully 
and  sincerely.  The  will  of  God  can  only  be  known  by  his  revealed  law. 
AVe  hope  this  little  book  will  find  a  place  in  every  Christian's  library. — 
Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 

The  best  hortatory  exposition  of  the  Decalogue  extant  amoni;  us.  We  earn- 
estly hope  that  it  will  be  widely  read  by  our  ministers  and  people. — Metho- 
dist Quarterly  Review. 

Dr.  Gun's  Wo7'l>:s. 

The  Works  of  Stephen  Olin,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  late  President  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  University. 

2  vols.  12mo.,  pp.  422,  472.   Price $2  00 

These  volumes  comprise  thirty-six  discourses  on  miscellaneous  subjects ; 
seven  lectures  on  the  theory  and  practice  of  scholastic  life ;  four  baccalaure- 
ate discourses ;  and  thirteen  essays  and  addresses  on  various  occasions. 

Bledsoe's  Theodicy. 

A  Theodicy  :  or.  Vindication  of  the  DmNE  Glory,  as  manifested 
in  the  Constitution  and  Government  of  the  Moral  World.  Bj' 
Albert  Taylor  Bledsoe,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  Univers- 
ity of  Mississippi. 

8vo.,  pp.  365.    Price,  half  morocco $1  60 

Gentle  reader,  whatever  be  the  school  of  theology  to  which  you  belong,  we 
earnestly  advise  you  to  read  this  book  carefully.  It  will  leave  its  mark, 
for  it  presents  the  most  difficult  subjects  in  theology  in  the  clear  light  of 
Scripture,  reason,  and  common-sense. — Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 

Whoever  reads  it  with  attention  and  with  candour  will  arise  from  his  task 
vrith  heightened  views  of  the  administration  of  Qo<i.—Sout>iern  Methodist 
Quarterly. 

The  author  reviews  with  great  discrimination  the  theories  of  ancient  and 
modern  authors  upon  this  sut>iect,  and  argues  with  force  and  ability  the 
dillVront  positions  assumed.  This  book  will  certainly  make  a  mark  in 
the  department  of  literature  to  which  it  belongs,  and  will  undoubtedly 
shed  light  upon  this  subject,  which,  of  all  others,  has  been  hitherto  "a 
dark  problem," 

Village  Science. 

Villaoe  Science  :  or,  the  Laws  of  Nature  explained.  By  the  Author 
of  "  Peeps  at  Nature,"  etc. 

18mo.,  pp.  285.    Muslin $0  28 

Contents.  1.  Atoms  and  Elements:  or,  Nature's  Materials.  2.  Laboum 
and  Sports:  or,  the  Laws  of  Motion.  3.  A  Visit  to  the  Water-works:  or, 
the  Doctrine  of  Fluids,  i.  Silence  and  Noise :  or,  the  Theory  of  Sound. 
.').  The  Klophant's  Trunk  :  or,  the  Principle  of  Compensation.  6.  The 
Light-house  Lantern:  or,  a  Dialogue  on  Optics.  7.  Fingers  and  Thumbs: 
or,  Nature's  Conveniences.  8.  Curious  Homes :  or.  Nature's  Geometry. 
0.  Growth  and  Decay :  or.  Nature's  Chemistry.  10.  Sparks  and  Flaniea ; 
or.  Nature's  Electricity.  11.  Dead  Leaves:  or,  Nature's  Economy. 
12.  Enough  and  to  spare  ;  oi ,  Nature's  Abundance 


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IVesIey's  Notes  on  the  New  Testament. 

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8vo.,  pp.  734.    Plain  sheep ^ • SI  80 

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This  work  forms  jxirt  of  the  course  of  study  adopted  hy  the  last  General 
Conference. 

For  a  brief  exposition  of  the  saci-ed  text,  we  have  long  considered  the  Notes 
of  Mr.  Wesley  as  llie  best  extant.  The  sense  is  given  in  as  few  words  as 
possible.  We  liave  long  wished  Wesley's  Notes  more  generally  diffused 
among  our  people,  and  particularly  that  our  young  preachers  might  always 
have  them  at  liand.  We  earnestly  recommend  this  edition  to' our  people, 
especially  to  the  young  of  both  sexes.  But  no  young  preacher  should  be 
without  it. — Methodist  Quarterly  Review. 

Though  short,  they  are  always  judicious,  accurate,  spiritual,  terse,  and  impres- 
sive, and  possess  the  happy  and  rare  excellence  of  leading  the  reader 
immediately  to  God  and  his  own  heart. — Dn.  A.  Clakke. 

Wesleyan  Sketches. 

Sketches  of  English  Wesleyan  Preachers.  Originally  published  in  the 
Christian  Advocate  and  .J  ournal.  Revised  and  enlarged  ;  with  several 
additional  Sketches.  15y  Robert  A.  West.  With  a  Portrait  of  Dr 
Bunting. 

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Mr.  West  sketches  with  great  boldness  and  ease,  and  possesses  the  rare 
art  of  giving  life  to  his  portraits. — Literary  Register. 

We  assure  o\ir  readers  of  a  real  treat  in  the  perusal  of  this  entertaining 
volume. — Zion's  Herald.  , 

They  are  exceedingly  spirited  and  life-like,  and  present  their  subjects  before 
the  reader  with  remarkable  vividness  and  individuality. — New -York  Tribune. 

The  author's  descriptive  powers  are  undeniably  great;  and  his  opportuni- 
ties of  observation  must  have  been  numerous,  to  gather  such  a  fund  of 
anecdote  and  history  as  the  volume  contains. — New-York  Evangelist. 

The  volume  has  been  to  us  a  very  pleasant  one  ;  and  we  are  indebted  to  it 
for  some  information  respecting  Methodism  which  we  are  glad  to  possess 
—  Presbyterian. 

Mr.  West  writes  with  ease  and  grace,  and  seems  to  possess  a  natural  ability 
to  sketch  the  salient  points  of  character.— iVeto-VorA:  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

We  earnestly  commend  Mr.  West's  sketches  of  the  English  Methodist  Preach- 
ers to  all  the  clergy  of  oui  land. — Alliance  and  Visitor. 

These  sketches  are  admirably  written,  and  contain  many  valuable  facts 
and  illustrations  of  holiness  of  life. — Albany  Spectator.  ' 

Mr.  West  possesses  great  versatility  of  talent,  and  has  a  happy  faculty  of 
describing  scenes  and  persons.  The  work  cannot  fail  to  interest  ail  readers 
— Christian  Union. 


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Weslsu's  Letters. 

Select  Letters,  chiefly  on  Personal  Keligion.  By  Rev.  John  Wesley. 
With  a  Sketch  of  his  Character,  by  Rev.  Samuel  LJeadburx. 

12mo.,  pp.  240.  "Uuslin  $0  50 

Mr.  Wesley's  Letters  were  ivritten  not  to  circulate  idle  gossip,  or  to  nourish 
a  sickly  sentimentality,  but  to  urge  forward  his  correspondents  in  the  di- 
vine life,  that  they  miglit  attain  all  the  mind  there  was  in  Christ,  and  make 
tlieir  calling  and  election  sure.  They  present  an  agreeable  variety  of  sub- 
jects ;  and  it  is  hoped  they  will  prove  acceptable  to  a  numerous  class  of 
readers  to  whom  the  entire  works  of  the  venerable  writer  are  inaccessible 
To  the  use  of  the  closet,  and  of  private  reading,  it  is  presurnea,  they  are 
especially  adapted.  The  "  Sketch  of  Mr.  Wesley's  Character,"  by  which 
the  letters  arc  introduced,  contains  several  interesting  notices  concerning 
the  founder  of  Metliodisrn  which  are  not  generally  known. 

Coke,  {Dr.  Thomas,)  Life  of. 

The  Life  of  Thomas  Coke,  LL.  D. :  including  iu  detail  his  various  Trav- 
els and  extraordinary  l^Iissionary  Exertions  in  England,  Ireland, 
America,  and  the  West  Indies ;  with  an  Account  of  his  Death,  while 
on  a  Missionary  Voyivge  to  the  East  Indies,  &c.  By  Samuel  Drew 
With  a  Portrait. 

12mo.,  pp.  381.    Muslin  $0  60 

Under  tlie  direction  of  Mr.  Wesley,  he  took  the  superintendence  of  the  foreign 
work  ;  and  for  many  years  was  such  an  example  of  Missionary  zeal  and  en- 
terprise as  the  Christian  Church  has  rarely  seen.  His  sermons  in  connex- 
ion with  the  Methodist  Missions  were  marked  by  an  energy,  disinterested- 
ness, and  perseverance  which  can  never  be  forgotten;  and  in  importance 
and  success  they  are  second  only  to  those  of  the  venerated  man  whom  he 
owned  as  his  father  in  the  Lord. — Rev.  Thomas  Jackson. 

N.  B.— The  Life  of  Mrs.  Coke  is  in  the  Sunday-School  Catalogue,  price  20 
cents. 

Watson  (Bishop)  and  Leslie  on  the  Evidences. 

Apology  for  the  Bible,  in  a  Series  of  Letters  addressed  to  Thomas  Paine, 
author  of  the  "Am  of  Reason."  By  Bishop  Watsox.  To  which  is 
added,  Leslie's  Short  and  Easy  Method  with  the  Deists. 

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Bishop  Watson's  Apology  lias  been  widely  circulated  and  much  read,  and, 
what  IS  of  still  more  consecjuence,  is  known  to  have  been  in  many  instances 
eminently  useful.  Wherever,  then,  the  poison  of  infidelity  is  spreading, 
those  who  are  concerned  to  provide  antidotes  sliou}d  not  forget  lliis  vali  - 
able  and  tried  production. — Memoirs  o/ Bishop  Watson. 

Old  Ilumphreifs  Worhs. 

Half  Hours  with  Old  Humphrey.     Revised  by  Rev.  D.  P.  Kidder. 

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Old  Humphrey  is  a  universal  favourite  ;  lie  is  capable  of  making  the  dullest 
subjects  interesting.  What  is  .still  better,  he  turns  cyery  subject  to  a  reli- 
gious account.  No  essay  of  his  fails  to  exhibit  the  excellence  or  tlie  obli- 
gatious  of  true  piety.  Such  writings  may  be  recommended  with  confiderce 
for  Uie  use  of  familiCK. 


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Vaudois  Church,  History  of  the. 

History  of  ilie  Vaudois  Church,  from  its  Origin,  and  of  the  Vaudois 
of  riedmont,  to  the  Present  Day.  By  Antoine  Monastiee,  formerly 
Pastor  in  the  Canton  de  Vaud,  and  a  Native  of  the  Valley  of  Pied- 
mont. Translated  from  the  French,  and  revised  from  the  London 
edition. 

12mo.,  pp.  396.    Muslin $0  75 

This  is  a  thrilling  and  truthful  history  of  a  people  whose  fidelity,  devotion, 
and  sufferings  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  througli  centuries  of  general  defec- 
tion from  the  primitive  faith,  and  through  frequent  and  bloody  persecutions, 
are  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  The  volume  will  be  read 
with  interest,  in  view  of  the  recent  revival  of  the  missionary  spirit  among 
the  ministers  and  Churches  of  the  Vaudois  valleys,  with  reference  to  the 
evangelization  of  Italy. — Independent. 

A  work  of  great  interest  and  value.  It  is  the  history  of  a  martyr  Church 
Their  preservation  has  been  a  miracle  of  Providence  ;  and  their  history,  as 
it  is  stranger,  so  it  is  more  thrilling  than  romance. — Zion's  Herald. 

We  are  glad  to  see  this  work, — a  translation  from  the  French,  first  made  for 
the  London  Religious  Tract  Society,  and  now  republished  in  this  country, 
with  a  commendatory  note  by  Dr.  M'Clintock. — New -York  Recorder 

[Vatsons  Conversations. 

Conversations  for  the  Young,  designed  to  promote  the  profitaLle  Reading 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures.    By  Rich.\rd  Watson. 

12mo.,  pp.  300.    Muslin SO  60 

Though  this  work  is  designed  for  the  benefit  of  young  people,  there  are  few 
adults  who  may  not  derive  instruction  from  a  serious  perusal  of  it.  It  is 
worthy  of  a  place  in  every  Christian  family  and  in  every  Sunday  school  in 
the  land. 

rhe  plan  of  the  work  is  new,  and  is  attended  with  many  advantages.  A 
young  person  is  introduced,  who  lias  some  knowledge  of  the  contents  of 
the  Bible,  whose  disposition  is  serious  and  inquisitive,  and  who  proposes 
questions  for  his  own  satisfaction  on  the  principal  facts  and  doctrines  of 
Scripture.  These  call  forth  corresponding  replies,  and  give  the  wrk  a  very 
interesting  and  miscellaneous  character. 

The  sacred  books  are  noticed  in  order.  Difficulties  are  proposed  and  solved ; 
the  objections  of  unbeUevers  are  stated,  and  refuted  ;  an  immense  number 
of  inquiries  relating  to  the  chronology,  antiquities,  phraseology,  prophecies, 
and  miracles  of  Scripture,  are  proposed  and  answered  ;  and  the  whole  has 
a  direct  bearing  on  the  momentous  subject  of  personal  religion. 

Mason  on  Self -Knowledge.  ' 

A  Treatise  on  Self-Kuowledge :  showing  the  Na,t.ure,  Excellence,  and 
Advantages  of  this  kind  of  Science ;  and  how  it  is  to  he  obtained. 
By  John  Mason,  A.  M.    With  a  Brief  Memoir  of  the  Author. 

18mo.,  pp.  254.    Muslin  $0  35 

This  has  now  been  a  standard  work  for  nearly  a  century,  and  is  one  of  the 
best  that  can  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  intelliggnt  young  person,  to  pro- 
mole  his  advancement  in  knowledge  and  piety.  It  is  divided  into  three 
parts  :  W\&  first  treats  of  the  "  nature  and  importance  "  of  self-knowledge  ; 
the  second  shows  "  the  excellence  and  advantage  of  this  kind  of  science  ;" 
and  the  third  points  out  "  how  self-knowledge  is  to  be  attained."  The  woik 
itself  is  too  well  known  to  need  anv  recommenda'ion 


BOOKS  PIJBLlSnED  BY  CARLTON  &  PHILLIPS, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New- York. 


Hodgson's  Polity  of  Metliodism. 

The  Ecclesiastical  Tolity  of  Methodism  defended :  a  Refutation  of  certain 
Objections  to  the  System  of  Itinerancy  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.    By  F.  Hodgson,  D.  D. 

18mo.,  pp.  132.    Muslin  SO  30 

"Polity  of  Methodism"  is  the  title  of  a  small  volume,  from  the  pen  of  Dr. 
Hod;;son,  in  defence  of  the  itinerant  system  of  Methodism  against  the 
objections  chiefly  of  Congregationalists.  It  is  written  with  his  usual  acute- 
uess  and  force,  and  demonstratively  proves  that  changes  in  the  ministry,  as 
involved  in  our  itinerant  system,  are  attended  with  fewer  practical  diffi- 
culties than  Congregationalism  or  Presbyterianism.  The  work  is  worthy  of 
a  wide  circulation.  We  shall  give  ample  e.vtracts  from  it  hereafter. — Zion's 
Herald. 

Weslci/s  (John)  Jouj-nal. 

The  Journal  of  the  Eev.  John  "Wesley:  being  a  Record  of  his  Travels  and 
Labours  from  1705  to  1790,  a  Period  of  fifty-five  Years. 

8vo.,  2  vols.,  pp.  1488.    Sheep S3  25 

These  volumes  form  the  most  valuable  history  of  early  Methodism. 

The  "Journals"'  of  the  founder  of  Methodism  are  an  uncommon  treasury  of 
sound  learning  and  just  criticism,  and  of  records  concerning  the  gracious 
influence  of  God  on  ministerial  labours  unprecedented  and  unparalleled.- 
Dr.  Adam  Clarke. 

Crane's  Essay  on  Dancing. 

An  Essay  on  Dancing.    By  Rev.  J.  TowNLEYCr.AXE,  of  the  New-Jersey 

C'oulVrciu'c. 

18mo.,  pp.130.    Muslin $0  30 

The  author  of  this  little  book  deserves  the  thanks  of  the  public.     His  work  is 

a  serviceable  antidote    for  an  evil  which   threatens  nmch  injur)'   to   the 

Church,  and  to  all  good  society.     Dancing  is  a  nuisance,  and  is  so  esteemed 

by  all  reflecting  minds. — Northern  Christian  Advocate. 

Barrs  Bible  Index  and  Dictionary. 

A  Complete  Index  and  Concise  Dictionary  of  the  Holy  Bible:  in  which 
the  various  Persons,  Places,  and  Subjects  mentioned  in  it  are  accu- 
rately referred  to,  and  difficult  Words  briefly  explained.  Designed 
to  facilitate  the  Stuily  of  the  Sacred  Scriutures.  Revised  from  the 
third  (ibi'i'.'nw  cditioji.  By  the  Rev.  John  lUnu.  To  which  is  added, 
a  Chriiuologv  of  the  Holy  Bible,  or  an  Account  of  the  most  Remark- 
able Passages  in  the  Books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  ])oiuting 
to  the  time  wherein  they  happened,  and  to  the  Places  of  Scripture 
wherein  they  are  recorded. 

12mo.,  pp.  210.    Sheep SO  45 

This  work  is  intended  not  only  to  assist  unlearned  readers  in  understanding 
the  language  of  the  Uible,  but  chiefly  in  readily  turning  to  the  places  where 
every  topic  of  information  comprised  in  it  occurs. 

Truly  a  clioice  companion  for  the  Biblical  student.  No  one  who  has  ever 
read  it  will  readily  consent  to  dispense  with  it. — Chriitian  Advocate  and 
Journal. 


.BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PHILLIPS, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New- York. 


Fletcliers  Letters. 

Letters  of  the  Rev.  John  Fletcher,  Vicar  of  Madeley.  Original Ij' 
edited  by  Rev.  Melville  Hoene,  Curate  of  Madeley.  Witlia  Por- 
trait of  Mr.  Fletcher. 

12mo.,  pp.  334.    Muslin $0  65 

Such  sweetness  and  devotion  of  love  ;  sucli  heavenly  unction,  and  so  full 
of  Christ — they  are  among  the  most  affecting  and  engaging  of  devotional 
writings,  and  deserve  a  place  with  the  letters  of  Doddridge,  Covvper,  and 
Newton. — y^cw   York  Evangelist. 

These  letter.s  are  full  of  the  spirit  of  piety.  No  man  can  read  them,  who  has 
a  spark  of  religion  in  his  heart,  without  feeling  his  love  enkindled  to  a  (lame. 
— Methodist  Protestant. 

Fletcher's  Letters  are  a  transcript  of  his  mind— a  visible  embodiment  of  his 
spirit,  and  cannot  be  too  strongly  studied,  or  too  deeply  imbibed. — Pitts- 
burgh Christian  Advocate. 

Tiiese  eminently  sweet  and  spiritual  epistles  have  long  been  out  of  print  in 
a  separate  form,  and  the  agents  have  performed  a  good  service  to  the 
Church  in  the  issue  of  this  beautiful  edition.  Every  Sabbatli-schoo!  library 
should  be  graced  with  this  treasury  of  purity  and  piety.— Zion's  Herald 

Clarke  s  Sacred  Literature. 

A  Concise  View  of  the  Succession  of  Sacred  Literattirc,  in  a  Chronolo- 
gical Arrangement  of  Authors  and  their  Works,  from  the  Invention 
of  Alphabetical  Characters  to  A.  U.  S'J.j.     By  Adam.Cl.4rke,  LL.  D. 
12mo.,  pp.  420.    Muslin  §0  70 

The  work  commences  with  the  giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai.  It  con- 
tains the  date  and  argument  of  every  book  of  Scripture,  and  of  all  the  wri- 
tings of  the  Jews  and  Christian  Fathers  that  are  extant,  down  to  the  year 
395  ;  and  in  some  instances  the  analysis  of  the  different  works  is  copious 
and  extensive. 

This  work  contains  much  important  information  relative  to  Biblical  and  ec- 
clesiastical literature. — T.  Hartwell  IIorne. 

We  know  not  in  what  manner  we  could  render  a  more  valuable  service  tc 
the  student  vvlio  is  directing  his  attention  to  this  branch  of  knowlejlge,  than 
to  recommend  him  lo  avail  himself  of  tlie  guidance  which  the  interesting 
work  before  us  supplies. — Eclectic  Review. 

An  undertaking  which  none  but  a  master-spirit  would  presume  to  touch, 
and  one  which  none  but  the  hand  of  a  master  could  ever  satisfactorily  exe 
cute. — Imperial  Magazine. 

Luther,  Life  of. 

The  Life  of  Martin  Luther.  To  which  is  prefixed  an  Eximjitoij  Essay 
on  the  Lutheran  Reformation.  By  Geo.  Cubitt.  With  an  Appendix, 
containing  a  Chronological  Table  of  the  principal  Events  occurring 
during  the  period  of  Luther's  Life.     With  a  Portrait. 

12mo.;  pp.  340,    Muslin  or  sheep SO  65 

The  subject  of  lliis  book  is,  for  its  real  grandeur,  unrivalled  among  the  sub- 
jects of  merely  human  history.  It  has  so  often  be^n  touched  by  the  great- 
est masters  that  it  requires  uncommon  courage  to  approach  it,  and  uncojn- 
mon  talents  to  present  it  in  its  real  greatness,  and  to  surround  it  with  its 
native  splendours  ;  Mr.  Cubitt,  however,  has  not  degraded  his  theme.  This 
book  is  a  spirited  performance,  and  reflects  honour  upon  the  head  and  heart 
of  the  author. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CAPxLTON  &  PHILLIPS, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New-York. 


Clarke,  {Dr.  Adam)  Life  of. 

An  Account  of  the  Pieligious  and  Literary  Life  of  Adam  Clarke,  LL.  V)., 
V.  A.  S.,  A:c.,  etc.     Edited  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Cl.vrke,  JL  A. 

12mo.,  3  vols,  in  one,  pp-  820.    Sheep SI  00 

This  work  is  justly  considered  one  of  tlie  most  interesting  biographies  ever 
pubUshed.  His  varied  and  extensive  learning  necessarily  associated  him 
vvilh  some  of  the  first  men  of  the  age. 

There  is  one  great  lesson  to  be  learned  from  the  history  of  this  extraordinary 
man.  It  is  tlic  incalculable  advantages  of  industry  and  perseverance.  Every 
young  person,  and  every  minister  especially,  should  place  before  liini  the 
example  of  Dr.  Clarke  and  take  encouragement. — T.  Jackson. 

Or.  Clarke  was  especially  revered  in  the  Methodist  connexion  for  his  piety. 
zeal,  apostolical  simplicity,  and  ministerial  usefulnes.s.  The  whole  Chrir 
tian  CImrch  bore  willing  testimony  to  his  sanctified  learning.  For  nearly 
lialf  a  century  did  he  continue  to  perform  the  most  important  labours  as 
the  servant  of  God  and  of  mankind,  in  various  departments  of  the  Church, 
with  great  integrity,  and  wilh  an  industry  which  perhaps  has  never  been 
surpassed.  We  very  cordially  recommend  this  "Life"  to  tlic  attention  of 
our  readers.     It  is  full  of  interesting  information. —  \Vcslcyan  Magazine 

Walsnns  Dictionarj/. 

A  lUhlical  and  Tlieological  Dictionary:  explanatory  of  the  History, 
Manners,  and  Cu.stoms  of  the  Jews  and  neighbonriiifj  Nations.  'With 
an  Account  of  the  most  rcniarkahle  I'laces  and  I'ersons  mentioned  in 
Scripture ;  an  Exposition  of  the  principal  Doctrines  of  Christianity ; 
and  Notices  of  Jewish  and  Christian  Sects  and  Heresies.  By  Kich.xhd 
W.ATSOX.    ^Yith  five  JMaps. 

8vo.,  pp.  1007.    Sheep S2  75 

Plain  calf 3  25 

Calf  gilt 3  60 

Calf  extra 4  00 

This  Dictionary  is  Biblical,  Theological,  and  Ecclesiastical.     It  is  fair  in  i'.s 

slatenieiits,  judicious  in  its  selections,  and  sufficiently  comprehensive  in 
its  scope.  It  is  indeed  a  more  complete  body  of  divinity  than  are  many 
works  which  have  been  published  under  that  name. 

Parker's  (Mrs.)  Christian  Church. 

Annals  of  the  Christian  Church,  in  Familiar  Conversations  for  Young 
Persons.     By  ^Irs.  r.\nKi:i!. 

18mo.,  pp.  324.    Muslin  SO  36 

This  work  was  especially  composed  for  the  use  of  the  young.  Its  aim  is  to 
convey,  in  a  familiar  style,  such  a  view  of  the  chief  occurrences  in  eccle- 
siastical history  as  may  furnish  the  youthful  mind  with  a  general  knowledge 
of  the  subject,  and  prepare  the  way  for  more  extensive  and  careful  re- 
searches. .\tteiilion  is  paid  to  the  order  of  events,  to  the  external  forms 
which  Christianity  has  assumed  in  different  ages,  and  to  Uic  g.real  principles 
which  no  time  or  place  can  change,  and  which  must  always  constitute  the 
basis  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ. 

VVc  very  cordially  recommend  this  excellent  volume.  Why  should  the  young 
have  abridged  histories  of  Greece,  Rome,  <kc  ,  and  the  history  of  Christ's 
Church  be  withheld  from  them  ?  We  do  not,  however,  mean  to  say  that 
this  is  onUj  a  book  for  the  young.  Those  who  have  not  time  for  the  perusal 
of  larger  works,  will  find  these  "  Annals  "  to  he  far  mc  "c  than  a  mere  sketch 
of  events  and  dates. 


PUBLISHED   BY   CARLTON   &  PHILLIPS, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New- York. 

Hoyth  Social  Melodies. 

Family  and  Social  Melodies.  A  Collection  of  Choice  Tunes  and 
Hymns.  Especially  adapted  to  Family  and  Social  Devotion.  By 
Rev.  William  C.  Hoyt,  M.  A. 

avo.,  pp.  224.    Muslin-  •  • $0  60 

The  hymns  in  this  worli  are  mostly  g-om  our  own  Hymn  Book;  the  tunes 
are  plain  and  familiar  airs.  It  is  characterized  by  good  judgment  and  ex- 
cellent taste  in  its  selections,  and  will  he  popular. — ZiorCs  Herald. 

A  most  excellent  aid  to  family  devotion.  We  recognize  many  of  fche  good 
old  tunes  and  hymns,  and  some  now  ones.  The  music  is  conveniently 
arranged  for  the  melodeon,  seraphine,  piano,  and  organ;  and  an  index  of 
subjects  at  the  end  will  enable  the  leader  of  the  devotions  at  once  to  select 
suitable  hymns.  Let  Christians  sing  at  the  family  altar;  the  little  ones 
will  thus  learn  the  songs  of  Zion,  and  the  great  congregations  will  become 
one  grand  choir,  verifying  the  demand  of  the  Holy  Oracles:  "Let  the 
people  praise  thee;  let  all  the  people  praise  thee." — National  Maffazitie. 

Loth  in  its  matter  and  its  form,  we  think,  this  work  meets  precisely  one  of 
the  Church's  urgent  needs.  Family  worship  is  incomplete  without  sacred 
song;  and  we  trust  this  little  book  will  cause  many  a  family  altar,  hereto- 
fore silent,  to  become  vocal  with  the  praise  of  God  "  in  Psalms  and  hymns." 
— Methodist  Quarterly  Review. 

The  ClieckeTcd  Scene. 

The  Checkered  Scene  :  or,  Memorials  of  Mr.  Samuel  Olr'er,  for 
some  Years  an  Officer  in  the  Army.    By  Gervase  Smith. 

18mo.,  pp.  168.    Muslin $0  21 

Contents.  Early  Days — The  Farewell — Africa — India— "The  Return— Busi- 
ness— The  Great  Change- The  Lord'sHouse — A  Dark  Cloud — The  Triumph. 

The  career  of  Mr.  Oliver  was  singularly  checkered  ;  some  parts  of  the  story 
glowing  with  romantic  interest. —  Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine. 

Gold  and  the  Gospel. 

Gold  and  the  Gospel:  Prize  Essays  on  the  Scriptural  Duty  of  Giving 
in  Proportion  to  Means  and  Income.  With  an  Introduction  by  Rev. 
Jesse  T.  Peck,  D.  D. 

16mo.  pp.  328.    Muslin $0  34 

1.  An  Essay  on  the  Measure  of  Christian  Liberality.  By  Eev.  Hen'ry  Con- 
stable, A.  M.  II.  The  Scripture  Rule  of  Religious  Contribution:  in  what 
Proportion  should  a  Believer  in  Revelation  dedicate  his  Property  to  the 
Cause  of  God  ? 

A  few  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  laymen  of  Ireland  last  year  oficred  two 
prizes  for  the  iirst  and  second  best  essays  in  favour  of  the  Scriptural  duty 
of  "giving  in  proportion  to  means  and  income."  Five  adjudicators  wore 
chosen,  and  fifty-one  essays  were  sent  in.  But  when  the  adjudicators  had 
finished  their  labours,  strange  to  tell,  each  gave  his  verdict  in  favour  of  a 
different  writer.  Each  seems  to  have  been  tenacious  of  his  own  judg- 
ment, and  the  result  was  that  the  five  essays  were  published  in  one  volume 
under  the  title  nf  "  Gold  and  the  Gospel."  Already  the  work  has  attained 
a  wide  circulation  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Five  gentlemen,  of  differ- 
ent denominations,  have  each  procured  a  thousand  copies  for  gratuitous 
disposition  in  their  respective  Churches. 

The  present  volume  comprises  the  first  two  of  these  essa3-s.  They  are  well 
adapted  to  the  American  mind,  and  the  inquiring  and  improving  condition 
of  the  American  Churches.  Let  this  book  be  generally  read,  and  acted  on, 
and  the  result  will  be  to  put  a  new  face  on  the  financial  aflTairs  of  the  Chris 
tian  world. 


BOOKS  PUBLISIIEl)  BY  CARLTOx^  &  PHILLIPS, 
200  Mulberry-etreet,  New-York. 


Wesley  Fajnily,  Me?noirs  of  the. 

Memoirs  of  the  Wesley  Family :  containing  Biogra])hical  Skjtclies  of 
the  Ancestors  and  neai-  Relatives  of  John  and  Charles  Wesley.  By 
Adam  Clakke,  LL. U. 

12nio.,  pp.660.    Sheep * $0  85 

Dr.  Clarke  has  succeeded  beyond  expectation  in  coUecling  facts  illustrative 
of  the  personal  history  of  the  Wesley  family. —  VVeslet/an  Methodist  Mag. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  biojjraphical  works  in  our  list.  It  is  not 
superseded  by  any  of  the  individual  memoirs  of  the  Wesleys  extant ;  and 
we  have  not  another  Methodist  book  that  we  can  more  heartily  commend 
to  the  patronage  of  Methodist  families.  It  is  replete  with  attractive  inci- 
dents and  line  delineations  of  character. — Zion's  Hirald. 

An  important  addition  to  the  early  history  of  Methodism.  A  work  to  be  read 
by  all  lovers  of  eminent  piety  and  zeal. — Methodist  Quartcrhj  Review. 

Villa  f^e  Blaclismith. 

The  Village  Blacksmith ;  or,  Piety  and  Usefulness  exemplified,  in  a 
Memoir  of  Samuel  Hick,  late  of  Micklefield,  Yorkshire,  England. 
By  Rev.  Jamks  Evehett. 

18mo.,  pp.  352.    Muslin  or  sheep SO  28 

We  have  not  for  a  lon^  time  seen  a  volume  which  we  read  with  Tuorc 
curiosity  and  pleasure— curiosity  in  following  the  developments  of  the  rlin- 
ractcr  of  the  natural  and  simple  man,  in  his  rough,  but  honest  and  untutored, 
and  often  singularly  correct,  views  of  things;  and  pleasure  at  that  unwea- 
ried pursuit  of  good  which  marked  every  moment  of  his  \\(e.— Metropolitan 
Literary  Journal. 

Among  the  pleasing  reminiscences  of  early  years,  the  writer  recurs  with 
peculiar  delight  to  a  slight  personal  acquaintance  with  this  singularly  good 
man,  the  eccentric  orator  of  our  village  missionary  meetings  in  the  East  and 
West  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  To  all  classes  of  readers  this  memoir  will  be 
a  fund  of  entertainment  and  instruction.  It  stands  alone.  There  is  nothing 
like  it  in  ancient  or  modern  biography. — Rev.  G.  G.  Cookman. 

WalTs  End  Miner. 

The  Wall's  End  Miner;  or,  a  brief  Memoir  of  the  Life  of  William  t'ris 
ter;  including  an  Account  of  the  Catastrophe  of  June  18,  1835.  By 
Rev.  James  Evekett,  Author  of  the  Village  Blacksmith. 

18mo.,  pp.  179.    Muslin  $0  30 

William  Crister,  the  sul)jcct  of  this  memoir,  was  a  pious  member  of  the  W(  s- 
leyan  Methodist  society,  who  lost  his  life  by  an  explosion  in  the  Wall's  ijid 
Colliery.  He  was  a  very  good  man,  but  uncultivated,  and  occasionally 
eccenlric. 

William  Crister's  narrative,  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Everett,  is  both  intcresUng 
and  instructive.  It  is  well  written,  and  we  sincerely  recommend  it  to  those 
who  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  excellence  of  character  w.iich  has 
been  exemplified  in  humble  circumstances.— .Veiccojf/f  C'ourant. 

We  need  say  no  more,  in  recommendation  of  tliis  volume,  than  that  tho 
Wall's  End  Miner  is  an  excellent  companion  to  the  Village  Black.smilli.  - 
London  Watchman. 


9 

PUBLISHED   BY   CARLTON  AND   PHILLIPS, 
200  Mulberry  and  24  Vesey-street,  New- York. 


FOE,  SALE  ALSO  BY  J.  P.  MAGEE,  5  CORNHILL,  BOSTON,  AND 
H.  H.  MATTESON,  SENECA-STREET,  BUEFALO. 

Bishop  Baker  on  the  Discipline. 

A  Giude-Boolc  in  the  Administration  of  the  Discipline  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  By  Osmon  C.  Baker,  D.  D.  12mo.,  pp.  253.  Price, 
CO  cents. 
We  are  glad  this  long-expected  and  much-desired  book  has  at  length  made  its  ap- 
pearance. Since  tlie  first  announcement  that  such  a  book  w.is  forthcoming,  our 
ministry  have  looked  for  it  with  no  Httle  degree  of  impatience  as  a  sure  aid  to 
their  right  and  beneficial  administration  of  Discipline.  The  title  of  tliis  work,  and 
the  source  from  whence  it  was  furnished,  warranted  such  expectation.  After  a 
careful  perusal  of  the  volume,  we  have  no  liesitancy  in  asserting  that  the  most  san- 
guine of  those  expectants  will  more  than  realize  all  they  hoped  for.  AVe  have  here 
striking  proof  of  that  careful,  patient  investigation  which  precedes  all  the  decisions 
and  productions  of  Bishop  Baker.  Our  author  has  evidently  made  our  '•  excel- 
lent book  of  Discipline"  a  subject  of  long  and  earnest  study.  For  many  years 
he  has  been  making  note  of  the  decisions  given  in  annual  and  General  Confer- 
ences by  liis  able  predecessors  in  office,  on  all  difficult  questions  pertaining  to  our 
denominational  administration.  This  result  of  his  labors  is  an  invaluable  boon 
to  our  ministry.  No  Methodist  minister  can  well  afl'ord  to  be  without  it.  The 
possession  of  this  volume  will  save  onr Jvnior  preachers  a  great  amount  of  study, 
much  perplexity,  and  m.any  troublesome  errors.  The  clearness,  conciseness,  and 
evident  correctness  of  this  production  are  marvels  of  mental  investigation,  acumen, 
and  discernment. — Ziori's  Herald. 

The  Young  Man  Advised. 

The  Young  Man  Advised  :  Illustrations  and  Confirmations  of  some  of 
the  Chief  Historical  Facts  of  the  Bible.  By  E.  0.  Haven,  D.  D.  12mo., 
pp.  329.  Price,  75  cents. 
Let  no  one  suppose  that  we  have  here  a  book  of  commonplace  counsels  to  the 
young.  The  writer  has  seized  upon  some  of  the  chief  historical  facts  of  the  Bible, 
from  wliich  he  has  drawn  illustrations,  which  lie  commends  to  the  study  and  in- 
struction of  his  readers,  and  thus  in  a  new  and  most  striking  form  has  conveyed 
gi-eat  practical  truths  which  can  hardly  fail  to  make  a  deep  unpressiun  upon  the 
youthful  mind.  He  displays  no  slight  "degree  of  research  in  his  own  studies,  and 
the  whole  is  clothed  with  such  historical  beauty  as  will  charm  while  his  words 
will  instruct  the  student. — Ifeio-  York  Observer. 

This  book  difi'ers  from  all  others  we  liave  ever  seen  addressed  to  this  class  of 
readers.  It  plods  not  o'er  the  old  beaten  track  of  the  numerous  volumes'^earing 
similar  titles.  Its  design  is  to  fortify  the  young  against  the  assaults  of  Infidelity, 
never  perhaps  more  generally,  more  craftily,  or  more  insidiously  made  than  now. 
In  prosecuting  this  design  it  presents  the  greatest  leading  facts  "of  the  Bible,  con- 
firming them  by  the  most  conclusive  evidence,  historical  and  philosophical, 
proving  beyond  all  controversy  the  superhuman,  the  divine  oi-igin  of  the  Word 
of  God.  This  volume  has  none  of  that  cold,  stiff,  dry  argument"  which  has  char- 
acterized similar  productions,  repelling  the  young  from  their  perusal.  Dr. 
Haven's  method  of  defending  the  "book  of  books"  has  a  novelty  about  it  which 
must  hold  the  attention  of  every  young  man  who  commences  the  perusal  of 
his  work.  His  style  and  diction"are  of  such  a  character  as  invest  a  powerfully 
nrgiamentative  treatise  with  all  the  charms  of  a  "well-told  tale."  If  this  book 
does  not  sell  extensively,  and  do  immense  good,  the  author  is  not  at  fault.  "We 
commend  it  to  parents  who  would  save  their  sons  from  moral  wreck.  Let  pas- 
tors join  issue  with  parents  in  scattering  this  poteut  antagonist  to  the  infidelity 
of  the  times.  .  Zeta. — Zion^s  IleroM. 


m 


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Closing  Scenes  of  Human  Life. 

Closing  Scenes  of  Human  Life. 

ISino.,  pp.  180.    Muslin SO  22 

The  title  of  the  volume  indicates  much — it  is  expressive  of  one  of  the  most 
prolific  sources  of  joy  and  of  sorrow  the  world  can  ever  know.  These  brief 
notices  of  the  last  hours  of  eminent  persons  may  kindle  in  the  youtlifiil 
mind  an  ambition  to  die  the  death  of  the  righteous. — Kor.  Chr.  Advocate. 

The  perusal  of  such  facts  as  arc  here  collated,  cannot  fail  to  impress  favor- 
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usually  deemed  recondite  and  abstruse ;  and  also  as  a  means  of  inducing 
in  them  habits  of  thought  and  high-minded  inquiry. — Editor's  Preface. 

Columbus. 

('olumbus ;  or,  the  Discovery  of  America.     By  Geoegb  Cubitt. 

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great  historic  event  of  the  fifteenth  ceninry.— Sunday  School  Advocate. 
A  very  good  ....  account  of  Columbus.     The  author's  work  is  original;  he 

does  not  follow  in  the  track  of  Mr.  Irving.     Mr.  Cubitt  is  an  English  VVes- 

leyan  minister. — Northern  Christian  Advocate. 

Crusades,  the. 

The  Crusades. 

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view  of  those  wonderful  expeditions  called  the  Crusades,  as  this.  It  is 
well  written,  and  is  full  of  attractions. — Rev.  Daniel  Wise. 

The  above  is  an  American  reprint  of  a  well-written  English  work.  The  sub- 
ject is  one  of  great  interest,  and  we  cordially  recommend  the  pur,chase  and 
perusal  of  this  little  book  to  our  young  friends. — Richmond  Chr.  Advocate. 

Cyrus,  Life  of. 

The  Life  of  Cyrus. 

18mo.,  pp.  185.    Muslin ..$0  22 

Nothing  can  surpass  the  elegance  of  the  language  in  which  the  "  Life  of 
Cyrus"  is  given  to  us  in  this  volume  ;  and  when  we  consider  the  number 
of  ...  .  rare  authorities  which  must  have  been  consulted  in  order  to  ren- 
der the  memoir  one  of  value  and  weight,  it  is  only  to  be  wondered  at  how 
so  much  research,  judgment,  historical  accuracy,  and  eloquence,  co«ld  be 
expended  on  the  materials  of  a  volume  of  so  low  a  price.  .  .  .  The  advanced 
scholar  need  not  be  ashamed  of  having  this  book  on  his  table. —  Christian 
Advocate  and  Jownal. 


9 

PUBLISHED   BY   CARLTON   AND   PHILLIPS, 
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POR  SALE  ALSO  BY  J.  P.  MAGEE,  5  CORNHILL,  BOSTON,   AND 
H.  H.  MATTESON,  SENECA-STREET,  BUFFALO. 

A  Model  for  Men  of  Business. 

A  Model  for  Men  of  Business  :  or,  the  Christian  Layman  contemphited 
among  his  Secular  Occupations.     Kevised  and  Modified  from  the 
Lectures   of   Rev.   Hugh    Stowell,  M.  A.,  Incumbent   of  Christ's 
Church,  Salford.     With  an  Introduction,  by  Rev.  I).  Cukry.     IGmc, 
pp.  o22.     Price,  35  cents. 
An  excellent  litUe  volume,  indicating  its  character  in  its  title-page,  and  forcibly 
pre.sentiii<i  the   morality  of  the   Gospel  to  the  acceptance  of  men  of  busine?.';. 
There  is  so  much  in  every  day  life  to  call  our  thoughts  away  from  God — so  much 
to  blunt  our  sensibilities  to  the  moral  jn-iuciplcs  which  should  govern  and  direct 
every  Christian  man  in  all  his  intercourse  with  the  world,  that  a  book  like  this 
cannot  but  be  a  most  pioiitable  companion  for  all  who  desire  to  be  at  last  accepted 
in  Christ  Jesus.     "We  welcome  its  appearance.    For  sale  at  the  Methodist  book- 
stores sonerally. — Jfct/i.  Protestant. 

This" is  a  work  much  wanted  to  carry  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath  into  the  busi- 
ness of  the  week — to  make  religion,  with  business  men,  an  ever-present  and  all- 
pervading  principle.  It  is  well  written,  and  highly  edifying.  Let  it  be  widely 
circulated. — Pitt«hurgh  V/irintian  Advocat". 

The  Life  and  Times  of  Bishop  Hedding. 

Life  and  Times  of  Rev.  Elijah  Iledding,  D.  I).,  late  Senior  Bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  By  Rev.  D.  W.  Clark,  D.  D. 
With  an  Introduction,  by  Rev.  Bishop  E.  S.  Jaxes.  Pp.  C86. 
Price,  large  12mo.,  $1  50;   Svo.,  §2  UO. 

The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope. 

The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope :  containing  the  Speech  of  the  Hon. 
Joseph  R.  Chandler,  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
ITuitcd  States,  .lanuarv  11,  1S55.     With  Nine  Letters,  stating  the  pre- 
vailing Roman  Catholic  Theory  in  the  Language  of  Papal  Writers. 
By  Joux  M'Clintock,  1).  1).    12mo.,  ])p.  151.     Price,  45  cents. 
I^ast  winter  lion.  Joseph  R.  Chandler,  a  Catholic,  and  Representative  in  Con- 
gress from  Pennsylvania,  being  hard  pressed  by  anti-Uomanist  influences,  made 
a   speech,  in  which    he  denied  the  political  supremacy  of  the  pope.     In  doing 
this,  he  showed  liimself  possessed  of  the  cunning  of  a  Jesuit,  or  tlie  weakness 
of  a  neophyte.     Dr.  MClintock,  in  a  series  of  nine  letters,  has  thorouirhly  ex- 
posed the  weakness  and  sophistry  of  Mr.  Chandler's  speech.     It  is  a  volume  fur 
intelligent  readers — none  others  will  relish  the  learning  and  the  nice  discrimina- 
tion which  pervade  the  work. — N^ort/ifrn  C/irUtian  Aih'ocati;  Auhuni,  X.  Y. 

A  sorites  of  letters  to  the  lion.  J.  R.  Chandler,  staling  the  prevai.ing  Roman 
Catholir;  theory  in  the  language  of  papal  writers,  forms  the  substanc-  of  tills 
viihinif.  They  were  prepared  in  reference  to  llio  speech  of  Mr.  ChandUr,  deliv- 
ered at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  ami  from  the  position  and  character  of  the 
writer,  as  well  as  from  his  mod'-  of  treating  the  subject,  are  eminently  deserv- 
ing of  i>ubllc  attention. —  .V.   y.  Trihiine. 

Carlton  &,  Phillips,  No.  200  Mulberry-street,  New-York,  b.ive  just  issued  a 
neat  duodecimo  volume  of  one  hundred  .ind  fifty-four  pages,  with  the  foregoing 
title.  It  needs  not  that  we  say  the  work  is  a  most  timely  and  masterly  pro- 
duc(io;i. —  Wfftru  Clirixtiiin  Ailvocdt". 


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liuters  Gregory's  Ecclesiastical  History. 

A  Concise  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  from  its  first  Establishment 
to  the  Present  Time :  containing  a  general  View  of  Missions,  and  ex- 
hibiting the  State  of  Religion  in  various  Parts  of  the  AVorkl.  Com- 
piled from  the  Works  of  Dr.  Gregory,  with  various  Additions  and 
Improvements.     By  Maktin  Ruter,  \).  D. 

8vo.,  pp.  446.  Plain  sheep $150 

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Conference. 

This  work,  as  prepared  by  Dr.  Gregory,  was  intended  to  furnish  a  compre- 
hensive abridgment  of  Ecclesiastical  History.  The  author's  labours  do  not, 
however,  extend  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Dr.  Ruter  lias 
ably  carried  on  the  work  to  the  year  1930,  making  numerous  additions  and 
improvements,  and  enriching  the  wholfe  with  a  comprehensive  view  of  mis- 
sions, &c.  It  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  very  few  Church  Histories  which 
bring  the  subject  dov/n  to  the  nineteenth  century. 

M'Owan  on  the  SabhafJi.        • 

Practical  Considerations  on  the  Christian  Sabbath.  By  Rev.  Peter 
M'Ow.\N.  Treating  on  the  Design  and  Moral  Obligation  of  the  Sab- 
bath ;  its  change  from  the  Seventh  to  the  First  Day  of  the  Week ; 
and  the  Spirit  and  Manner  in  which  it  ought  to  be  sanctified. 

18mo.,  pp.  200.    Muslin  SO  30 

The  desecration  of  the  holy  day  is  so  common,  that  no  etfurt  should  be  spared 
to  bring  about  a  better  state  of  things.  This  manual  is  recommended  as 
^  a  timely  and  thorough  exposition  of  the  subject.  It  treats  of  the  original 
and  general  design  of  the  Sabbath  ;  moral  obligation  of  the  day  ;  its  change 
from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  ;  and  the  spirit  and  manner 
in  which  it  ought  to  be  sanctified. 

Curiosities  of  Animal  Life. 

Curiosities  of  Animal  Life,  as  developed  by  the  Recent  Discoveries  of 
the  Microscope.     With  Illustrations  and  Index.    Revised  by  Rev.  D. 

P.  IVIDDER. 

IGmo.,  pp,  184.    Muslin $0  50 

One  of  the  most  novel  and  interesting  books  of  the  times. 

Wesleyan  Student. 

Wesleyan  Student ;    or,  Memoirs  of  Aaron  H.  Hurd.    By  Rev.  Joseph 

HOLDICH. 

18mo.,  pp.  288.    Muslin  SO  35 

An  excellent  memoir  of  a  most  promising  j-oung  man.  We  commend  it  to 
the  young,  and  especially  to  students  in  our  Seminaries  and  Colleges.— 
Methodist  Quarterly  Review 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PHILLIPS, 
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Helps  for  Every  Hour. 

Helps  for  Every  Hour. 

32mo.,  pp.  54.    Giltedges $0  15 

A  beautiful  little  volume.    Tlie  motto  is  wortliy  of  general  attention  :— 
"  Whatc'er  we  think,  or  do,  or  say, 

In  sunshine  or  in  shower. 
In  passing  on  life's  checker'd  way. 
We  need  a  hint  for  every  day, 

A  help  for  every  hour." 

Jerusalem,  Ancient  and  Modern. 

Ancient  Jerusalem.    By  Dr.  Kitto. 
Modern  .Jerusalem.    By  Dr.  I{jtto. 

CSVilh  maps  and  illustrations.    Two  volumes  in  one.) 
18mo.,  pp.  186, 189.    Muslin SO  35 

Ancient  .Terusalem  presents  a  graphic  description  of  the  most  famous  city 
of  the  earth.  ...  It  contains  an  interesting  account  of  the  origin,  early 
history,  and  site  of  .Terusalem,  with  its  condition  in  the  times  of  David, 
Solomon,  during  .and  after  the  captivity,  and  in  the  time  of  Christ.— CVn-i's- 
txan  Advocate  and  Journal. 

Modern  .Terusalem,  containing  tiie  history  of  .Terusalem,  from  the  days  of 
our  Saviour's  incarnation  to  its  destruction  by  Titus,  and  then  onward  to 
the  Crusades,  and  to  modern  times.  The  localities  connected  with  Scrip- 
ture history  are  careaUly  traced,  and  their  present  appearance  described. 
—Ihid. 

Jewish  Nation,  the. 

The  Jewish  N.ation  :  containing  an  Account  of  their  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms, Rites  and  Worship,  Law.s  and  rdity.  With  numerous  illus- 
trative Engravings,  and  Index. 

12mo.,  pp.  416.    Muslin SO  85 

Well  deserving  to  be  used  as  a  text-book  in  liiblo  classes.— Eev.  Frekborx 

GaRRKTTSON   HlBn.VRD. 

It  will  be  found  one  of  the  most  valuable  works  on  the  subject  ever  published. 

— Sunday-School  Advocati". 
It  is  a  compact  and  convenient  manual  of  Pcripturo  antiquities  ....  the  best 

popular  work  on  the  subject  in  yrmi.— New -York  Tribune. 
It  presents  a  clear  outline  of  .Icwish  customs,  antiquities,  modes  of  life,  <tc., 

in  a  way  to  throw  much  light  upon  tho  T.ible,  and  to  serve  an  excellent 

end  as  a  book  of  reference.— A'ew-ror/,;  Evangelist. 

Idumoia. 

Iduma>a.    With  a  Survey  of  Arabia  and  the  Arabians.     AVith  raajis. 

18mo.,  pp.  213.    Muslin SO  24 

A  description  of  a  countrv  of  high  historic  interest  as  the  residence  of  tiie 

patriarch  Job,  and  containing  tho  site  ft-om  whence  came  forth  the  Mosaic 

law;  tliis  country  was  also  tlie  cradle  of  the  sciences.- iondon  Yisilor. 
This  volume  ....  contains  a  succinct  view  of  the  history,  people,  and  present 

state  of  Iduma-a.  throwing  much  light  on  Scripture  liistory,  geography,  and 

prophecy. —  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 


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Townley's  Illustrations  of  Biblical  Literature. 

Illustrations  of  Biblical  Litei-ature :  exhibiting  tlie  History  and  Fate 
of  the  Sacred  Writings  from  the  earliest  Period  to  the  present  Cen- 
tury ;  including  Biographical  Notices  of  Translators  and  other  end 
nent  Biblical  Scholars.    By  James  Townley,  D.  D. 

8vo.,  2  vols.,  pp.  1206.    Sheep $3  00 

Tim  work  forms  imrt  of  tlin  course  of  fittidy  adopted  hy  the  last  General  Con- 
ference. 

These  ample  volumes  comprise  a  rich  fund  of  instructive  and  pleasing  infor- 
mation on  the  subject  of  sacred  biography.  They  have  been  compiled 
from  a  great  variety  of  publications,  many  of  them  inaccessible  to  tlie 
generality  of  readers,  and  some  of  them  of  extreme  rarity.  .  .  .  The  industry 
and  accuracy  of  Dr.  Townlcy  will  entitle  his  volumes  to  the  approbation 
of  the  critic  and  the  patronage  of  the  public.  They  afford  a  more  compre- 
hensive view  of  the  progress  of  Biblical  translations,  and  of  the  literary  and 
ecclesiastical  history  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  than  is  to  be  found  in  any 
other  work. — (London)  Eclectic  Review. 

Dr.  Townley's  Illustrations  are  essential  to  every  good  library;  and  to  all 
persons  who  are  desirous  to  attain  an  adequate  and  a  correct  acquaint- 
ance with  the  literature  and  the  learned  men  of  times  gone  by. — Christian 
Intelligencer. 

Funeral  Discourse  on  Mrs.  Garrettson . 

Life  Inexplicable,  except  as  a  Probation.  A  Discourse  delivered  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Rhinebeck,  New-York,  July  IGth,  1840, 
at  the  Funeral  of  Mrs.  Catherine  Garrettson.    BySxEPHEx  Olix,  D.  D. 

18mo.',  pp.  64.    Paper  covers $0  10 

Muslin 0  15 

It  is  characterized  by  the  well-knowoi  ability  of  the  preacher.  The  discus- 
sion of' the  probationary  character  of  life  is  an  able  argument,  and  the 
portraiture  of  Mrs.  Garrettson  one  of  the  noblest  we  have  met  with. — 
Zion's  Herald. 

Young  on  the  World's  Conversion. 

Suggestions  for  the  Conversion  of  the  World,  respectfully  submitted  to 
the  Christian  Church.    By  Rev.  Robeht  Young. 

18mo.,  pp.  146.    Muslin SO  30 

Mr.  Young's  object  is  to  promote  the  exertions  of  every  Christian  in  his  own 
sphere  ;  and  he  has  ably  shown  that  there  is  a  loud  call  for  such  exer- 
tions, and  sure  warrant  forexpecting  success.  This  volume,  l?lough  small, 
is  truly  valuable,  and  cannot  fail  to  be  of  service  to  every  candid  reader. — 
Wesleyan  Magazine. 

Ccesar,  (Julius,)  Life  of. 

Life  of  Julius  Csesar. 

ISmo.,  pp.  180.    Muslin $0  30 

A  better  life  of  Julius  C-esar  we  have  never  read.  It  is  drawn  from  the 
best  authorities,  Greek  and  Latin  ;  the  execution  is  highly  creditable  to  the 
author,  and  it  is  written  throughout  on  Christian  principles.  The  conclud- 
ing chapter  (on  Caesar's  character)  is  an  admirable  summing  up,  an'd  affcrds 
convincing  proof  that  sketches  of  this  description  may  be  so  written  as  to 
furnish  fireside  reading  of  a  really  useful  as  well  as  interesting  character. 


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Wesletj,  {Charles.)  Life  of. 

Life  of  Charles  Wesley;  comprising  a  EeWew  of  his  I'oetry,  Sketches 
of  the  Ilise  and  Progress  of  Methodism,  with  Notices  of  Contempo- 
rary Events  and  Characters.  By  Rev.  Thomas  Jacksox.  AVith  a 
Portrait. 

8vo.,  pp.  800.    Plain  sheep $1  75 

Plaincalf 2  25 

Calf  gilt 250 

Calf  extra 3  00 

Tlie  name  of  Charles  Wesley  will  ever  be  in  honourable  remembrance  as  the 
coadjutor  of  his  brother  in  that  extensive  revival  of  true  religion  which 
distinguished  the  last  century,  and  as  the  author  of  the  greater  portion  of 
those  incomparable  hymns,  the  use  of  which  has,  for  nearly  one  hundred 
years,  formed  so  prominent  a  part  of  thp  devotions  of  "the  people  called 
Methodists."  Although  more  than  fifty  years  have  passed  away  since  he 
rested  from  his  labours,  there  has  been  no  separate  memoir  of  his  life  until 
the  appearance  of  the  present  volume,  which  is,  in  many  respects,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  important  works  on  religious  biography  that  has 
issued  from  the  press  for  many  years.  It  is  cliiefly  prepared  from  the  jour- 
nals and  private  papers  of  Mr.  Wesley,  which  were  kept  in  his  family  till  the 
death  of  his  daughter  in  1828,  when  they  became  the  property  of  the  Wes- 
leyau  Conference.    No  Methodist  preacher  should  be  without  it 

Wesleyan  Preacheis,  Memoirs  of  Several. 

Memoirs  of  several  Wesleyan  Preachers,  principally  selected  from  Rev. 
T.  .Jackson's  Lives  of  liarly  Methodist  Prcacners,  and  the  Arniinian. 
and  Wesleyan  Magazines. 

12mo.,  pp.  346.    Muslin $0  66 

It  will  not  be  easy  to  read  their  histories,  so  evidently  truthful,  without  being 
profited.  Dr.  Clarke,  in  a  letter  to  a  young  preacher,  says,  "Make  your- 
self familiar  with  the  works  of  Mr.  Wesley  and  Mr.  Fletcher,  and  read  the 
lives  of  the  early  Methodist  preachers." 

An  important  addition  to  our  means  of  acquainting  ourselves  with  the  early 
history  of  Methodism.  X  work  to  bo  read  by  all  lovers  of  eminent  exam 
pies  of  piety  and  zeal. — Methodist  Quarterly  Revicio. 

Harris  on  Covetousncss. 

JIammon ;  or,  Covctousness  the  Sin  of  the  Christian  Church.  By  Kev. 
Joiix  IIapjus. 

ISmc,  pp.  249.    MusUn  $0  23 

A  work  which,  almost  beyond  any  other  of  the  present  day,  has  secured  the 
approl)ation  of  the  public.  A  more  pointed  and  searching  exposure  of  the 
secret  workings  of  covetousncss  can  scarcely  be  found.  The  late  .\ndrew 
Fuller  says: — "The  love  of  money  will,  in  all  probability,  prove  the  eter- 
nal ovcrllirow  of  more  characters  among  professing  people  than  any  other 
sin,  because  it  is  almost  the  only  crime  which  can  be  indulged,  and  a  pro- 
fession of  leligion  at  the  same  time  supported." 

Golden  Maxims. 

Golden  Maxims ;  or,  a  Thought,  Devotional  and  Practical,  for  every  Day 
in  the  Year.  With  an  Index  to  Authors'  Names.  Selected  by  Rev. 
P.or.F.KT  Bond. 

32mo.,  pp.  112.    Muslin,  gilt  edges $0  26 


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